The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 23 October 2023". The ARIA Report. No.1755. Australian Recording Industry Association. 23 October 2023. p.10. The album is Astley's first of new music since Beautiful Life (2018). It peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart. Do we all dream enough? Do we search for that bar that’s a bit further up? Did you reach high enough? Again, it’s reflective of my own life a little bit. As my manager and also as my wife, my wife is more confident about my stuff than me and probably pushes it more than I do. We’ll get an offer to do something and I’ll go, ‘I don’t know about that,’ and she’ll say, ‘I know you can and it’s going to work out, it’ll be great.’ But it doesn’t have to be about my career, it can be about anything in life. It’s just that thing: ‘Did we actually really go for it?’” Alongside the album announcement, Astley has launched the first single from the upcoming project ‘Dippin’ My Feet’.

Rick Astley / Are We There Yet? CD with signed polaroid Rick Astley / Are We There Yet? CD with signed polaroid

It’s been the journey of a lifetime, yet the road ahead of him remains open for further exploration - the next stop being the release of his long awaited ninth studio album Are We There Yet? in October 2023. This is simple, love song writing, about when you let someone down and they’re never going to forget it. I don’t think that’s relatable to me, necessarily. I do let my wife down sometimes, that’s for sure. I love the opening because it reminds me of Motown. Sometimes I just want to write a song somebody can dance to and sing along to.”The album was inspired by the soul music of Marvin Gaye, Al Green and Bill Withers, [1] and recorded at the Astley's home studio in London. [4] Astley stated that he believed "spending five months in America" on tour there in 2022 "retuned [his] ear a little bit" in regards to his guitar playing. [5] Singles [ edit ] We went to Nashville and there was music on every corner—Nashville just seems to live and breathe it a little more. ‘Golden Hour’ isn’t country exactly, but it’s definitely leaning on that and on that songwriting thing of trying to be as simple as possible. Some of the lyrics refer to my wife and I. We’ve known each other since 1987 and she manages me, so we work together. We traveled on buses around America for three months, and we realized that we are in a golden hour in the sense of age as well. You can be in a golden hour when you’re 20, but we also feel we’re getting on a bit and we have to enjoy this, because I don’t know how long anybody’s going to let me in a venue and sing anymore. We’re in a golden hour together as well because we’re still together after all these years. It’s pretty special.” Träumen wir alle genug? Suchen wir nach der Latte, die noch ein bisschen höher hängt? Hast du hoch genug [high enough] gegriffen? Auch das spiegelt ein wenig mein eigenes Leben wider. Meine Frau ist– sowohl als meine Managerin als auch als meine Frau– selbstbewusster als ich und setzt sich wahrscheinlich mehr für mich ein als ich selbst. Wenn wir ein Angebot bekommen, etwas zu machen, sage ich: „Ich weiß nicht, ob das eine gute Idee ist“, und sie sagt: „Ich weiß, dass du es kannst, und es wird toll werden.“ Aber es muss nicht unbedingt um meine Karriere gehen, es kann um alles im Leben gehen. Es geht nur um die Frage: „Haben wir uns wirklich angestrengt?“ Sometimes I’ll write a certain line in a song that may have a slight political undertone and sometimes I just want to write one that’s like, ‘You know what? We’ve just got to fall in love with each other and the answer to that is letting go.’ A friend of mine was asking me about lyrics the other day and I was saying, ‘To be honest, half the time I don’t know what they’re about. It’s just shit that comes out while you’re noodling and playing, and sometimes it just feels right and becomes part of the song.’ But the essence of this is it’s about letting go. It’s quite up and quite light, and it’s not a serious song in any way. There’s a tiny bit of Fleetwood Mac in there, just because I heard tons of Fleetwood Mac when we were in America last summer.” Being the youngest, I used to watch things that I should not have been watching. I remember watching the news and being absolutely freaking terrified. I was born in ’66, so it was the early ’70s and stuff, the IRA was a massive thing. There were always bombings, you grew up watching things and thinking, ‘Wow, man, it’s terrifying.’ This is a little bit about seeing things through the eyes of a kid and being terrified. Also, I wanted to rescue it a little bit and have it be a chorus that people could sing along with.”

Rick Astley - Official Website

Matt Collar of AllMusic wrote that the album "feels like a love letter to the earthy, blues-influenced work of artists like Bill Withers and Otis Redding" and found that "all of the rootsy soulfulness Astley embraces on Are We There Yet? is far removed from the studio sophistication of his early hits. That said, it feels genuine and hard-won by age and experience." [4] Retropop called it "some of his finest work since the 1980s" and felt that the "direction [...] perfectly compliments Astley's distinctive vocals, be it on mid tempo guitar-led numbers like 'Letting Go' and 'Golden Hour', or more R&B-leaning tunes in the vein of 'Never Gonna Stop' and 'Waterfall'". [12] I feel like life is a bit of a waterfall and I’m under it—and sometimes it feels lovely and it’s great and I’m having a lovely shower in it, it’s nature, and it’s wonderful. And sometimes I’m drowning and I’m really struggling. I feel I see that in a lot of my friends, and you see it in the wider world. It’s about the fact that life is amazing and great, but it’s also really tough sometimes, and we’re all under that waterfall and we do all need a little bit of healing sometimes. The hope is we’ll get through it and I think music sometimes gets me through it.” A jangling indie riff follows on “Letting Go” and you wonder if he’s going to “go Smiths” after all. Instead, it morphs into a Stax-infused bopper, confirming Astley as an artist happy to lean into his status as kingpin of easy listening

The lead single "Dippin My Feet" was released on 20 June 2023. Astley said of the song: "It's not Americana, but the tagline at the start of the chorus is: 'Dipping my feet in the Mississippi River...' It's definitely not country, but I've never twanged a guitar as much as I have in the past couple of months." [6] "Dippin My Feet" peaked at number 95 on the UK Singles Sales Chart. [7] There is, however, room for one surprise in piano-driven closer “Blue Sky”. Here is a stark torch song where Astley confesses to “hiding the way” he “really feels”. Meine Frau treibt mich in den Wahnsinn und umgekehrt, aber sie treibt mich in buchstäblich jeder Hinsicht in den Wahnsinn. In dem Song gibt es eine Zeile, die in etwa lautet: „Manchmal frage ich mich, warum wir hier sind“, und es heißt: „Just holding your hand takes away my fears.“ („Nur deine Hand zu halten, nimmt mir meine Ängste.“) Wir haben diese [Art von] Beziehung. So wie Glastonbury, von dem ich nie dachte, dass es jemals stattfinden würde, ich dachte, das wäre ein längst vergangener Traum, aber wir haben es diesen Sommer [2023] geschafft– ich hielt die Hand meiner Frau, als ich auf die Bühne ging.