Christmas Without Curb

The singer announced plans to drop “Christmas All Over the World” following news he was free to record while an ongoing legal battle with Curb winds its way through court. It will be the first music released by McGraw without Curb.

However, Curb apparently had plans of its own, and has released another of McGraw’s songs, “Better Than I Used To Be,” from the album Emotional Traffic.

The label refused to release Emotional Traffic and sued McGraw for breach of contract earlier this year, claiming he didn’t record the songs on the album during a contractually stipulated window. McGraw countersued, alleging the label attempted to lock him into a never-ending contract that he’d already completed.

Traffic will reportedly be released in January, but an attorney for Curb told the Tennessean the label still doesn’t see the album as satisfying McGraw’s recording contract.

“As you heard in the courtroom, Tim says it’s his best album ever and that he has been anxious for its release,” lawyer Jay Bowen said. “However, that does not mean that it’s his fifth option period album.”

The damages portion of the dispute is scheduled to go to trial in July.