Dierks Bentley’s 11th studio album finds the longtime country hitmaker in a reflective place. The superstar tells Apple Music that the title Broken Branches represents, in part, the tight-knit music community he’s become part of since beginning his career, and how that interconnectedness is essential to his artistry and to his personal wellbeing. “We’re all broken branches out of the family tree,” he says. “We’ve created our little community here in Nashville of singers and songwriters and dreamers and schemers, and it can take a toll on you when you don’t have that family support around.” (In tandem with the record, Bentley launched the Broken Branches Fund, a partnership with Music Health Alliance that provides artists and other music industry professionals with mental health resources.) Broken Branches opens with “Cold Beer Can,” a lighthearted but tender collaboration with Stephen Wilson Jr. that uses wordplay to illustrate how sharing a drink can create connection. “Jesus Loves Me” interpolates the classic hymn of the same name to anchor a breakup song about finding redemption after heartbreak. That’s a far cry from the inspiration for “She Hates Me,” another breakup song with unexpected roots—the 2001 Puddle of Mudd post-grunge hit “She Hates Me,” whose unmistakable opening riff is repurposed here on Bentley’s more PG tale of love lost. Other highlights include the Miranda Lambert collaboration “Never You,” a long-awaited duet from the pair that makes the most of her singular voice, and the title track, a fun and freewheeling collaboration with living legend John Anderson and relative newcomer Riley Green. Below, Bentley shares insight into several key tracks. “She Hates Me” “I was writing with Stephen Wilson Jr. and just wrote a serious song, and we were doing a little thing in Nashville. We’re all getting together writing for a couple days. I was getting ready to go work with some other guys on another song, and that popped up in between, when we were taking a little break. Someone started playing that chord progression and someone said, ‘She hates me.’ Next thing you know, we’re working on this song. It was done relatively quickly, and it’s just one of those songs, like a ‘5-1-5-0’ or something, that just stuck around. And then, it comes time to pick a single. It’s like, ‘Well, this song’s pretty fun.’ I think I’m pretty good at recognizing that humor is important sometimes, and having fun is OK.” “Broken Branches” (feat. John Anderson and Riley Green) “There’s never any sort of plotting or planning, for better or for worse, when it comes to collaborations and strategy and all that stuff. The song dictates everything. And I heard that song. I love the song. I love the idea that we’re all broken branches off the family tree, and we’re little misfits here in Nashville where you make your own friend group. I heard it as a duet right away.” “Never You” (feat. Miranda Lambert) “I learned a lot from Miranda just through how she makes records. And maybe I’ve helped her along the way, too—maybe showed her things not to do in your career. But having her on this record, it was great. We finally got a proper duet. We did a thing with her and Jamey Johnson on my Up on the Ridge album. But this is the first time we’ve had just the two of us together. I sent her that song, and there’s a line that says, ‘Your long black hair falling off your shoulder.’ And I meant to change it to ‘blond’ before I sent it to her, but I forgot. So, the song came back to me, and she’s singing, ‘That long black hair falling off your shoulder,’ and I called her up. I’m like, ‘Hey, I’m so sorry. I meant to change the line to blond.’ She goes, ‘Oh, I just thought we were both singing about [your wife] Cass.’ I was like, ‘Well, we could do that. It’d change the idea of the song a little bit. I don’t know if they’re ready for that. Let’s make just a love song between you and me. Leave my wife out of it.’” “For as Long as I Can Remember” “We do everything together as a family. We’ve had times where we just all slept in one room, like the wolf pack, we used to call it, because we like being together. I’ll remember our family for just those dumb moments. And there’s certainly times on the road, too, all the kiddie pools and chalk and putt-putt golf courses and trips to Target we’ve made on the road together. Cheering on sports together. I try to be present for all that stuff. I do a lot of dishes. I do a lot of laundry. We all do that together. It’s all hands on deck. We’ve got three kids. But hopefully, just being their goofy dad is what they’ll remember me for.”