The album was announced by frontman Ryan Tedder in September 2019, with a planned release in "late November" of that year. Tedder stated that he wanted to put out an album with eight or nine songs and then continue releasing new music in 2020. Tedder later revealed that the album had been delayed until the second quarter of 2020 because it was "physically impossible to finish an album in the timeframe that we thought we needed it", and he believed the album would not be successful if released between Thanksgiving and Christmas.[4] Tedder also said the band had "two years worth of songs just scattered on hard drives" and were trying to find and finish "the best ones" to make "a coherent album out of the last two years".[4] Tedder stated that the May 8 release date was delayed because of it being a "weird time", amid the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]
The band also stated, "due to the current circumstances requiring us to distance ourselves from each other and you, the release has been postponed."[6] On July 1, 2021, the band announced via their Instagram account that the official release date for Human would be August 27, 2021.[1]
Singles[]
The lead single "Rescue Me" was released on May 17, 2019, and reached number five on the US BillboardBubbling Under Hot 100.[7] "Wanted" was released as the second single on September 6, 2019, and reached number nine on the Bubbling Under Hot 100.[7] The third single "Didn't I" was released alongside the album pre-order on March 13, 2020, and reached number nineteen on the Bubbling Under Hot 100.[8] "Better Days" was released as the fourth single on March 25, 2020.[9] "Run" was released as the fifth single on May 5, 2021,[10] and reached number 21 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100.[7]
Promotional single[]
The album also includes the promotional single "Somebody to Love", released on September 11, 2019. It was written by songwriter JT Roach on the series Songland, on which Tedder serves as a judge.[11]
