Songfacts®:

• "Out in the Open" is a sprawling, anthemic psych-rocker that, true to its name, is all about being open and truthful. The opening track from My Morning Jacket's 10th studio album, Is, it sets the stage for a record that wrestles with themes of presence, creativity, and connection.
• For Is, the Louisville-born band made a rare decision: they handed over the production reins to Brendan O'Brien, the man behind records for Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen, and about half the bands that ever graced an alt-rock festival lineup. Lead singer/guitarist Jim James, who has produced or co-produced all of their studio albums since 1999, told Uncut magazine:
  
  "This is the first time we've ever scrapped a record. We'd done two different recording sessions, but it just wasn't feeling right. Then we met with Brendan O'Brien and decided to start the whole process over again."
  
  O'Brien's approach? Cut the fluff. "Brendan's fun to work with, but all he cared about is, 'Does the song make sense? Is it in the right key? Are we feeling it?'" James said. "All the things we normally care about, like the vibe or the gear, all went out the window."
• One of the best examples of this new approach is "Out In The Open," which started as a ukulele riff James recorded during the pandemic - just a sketch of a song.
  
  "As we started working on the song," James told Uncut, "Brendan was like, 'Oh, that ukulele is great, let's just use that and see how the song builds."