Keith Urban. Photo: Greg Gayne/NBC

If there’s one thing Keith Urban loves, it’s human connection.

The “Blue Ain’t Your Color” singer will appear on The Voice as this season’s mega mentor. Speaking to PEOPLE about the gig, Urban opened up about getting to know the contestants — and leaving with some inspiration of his own.

“It doesn’t matter which part of the journey you’re in, whether you’re at the beginning like a lot of these artists are, or whether you’re Chance the Rapper or Dan + Shay, John Legend, anybody,” Urban, 56, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “I mean, and Reba [McEntire], who’s really had the longest career of everybody. So you’ve got every part of an artist’s journey represented within this one show. It’s extraordinary.”

He continues, “I love being around new artists and artistry, period. Very inspiring to be around. And I also think for me personally, so much of the advice that I might give to somebody, I’ll drive home afterwards and I’m thinking, ‘Do I do that myself? I’m saying that they should do this thing, but am I doing that?’ And I end up helping myself too because I’m like, ‘OK, well if you’re going to preach it, make sure you practice it as well.’ It’s a bit of accountability as well.”

When it comes to singing competition shows, this isn’t Urban’s first rodeo. The country star served as a judge on American Idol from season 12 to 15. He also previously appeared on The Voice as former coach Blake Shelton’s advisor during season 15. He was also a coach on the series’ Australian version for seasons 1, 10 and 11. When asked what brings him back to competition shows, he jokes he “just wanted to see what a double chair looked like.”

“The thing about working with new artists is I think on one hand, of course, I’ve got a lot of things I’ve learned in my career that might be helpful to them,” the “Female” singer says. “But I also learn, that’s the thing about being in those environments is I’m watching artists create something that’s fresh and unique to them, and it’s always inspiring to be around, because I’m constantly learning myself.”

Keith Urban at the CMT Awards in Austin, Texas on April 7, 2024.John Shearer/Getty

Oftentimes after these experiences, Urban also walks away feeling inspired by a contestant’s reinterpretation of a song they’re covering.

As a mentor, Urban is prepared to offer individual advice to each contestant dependent on their needs. A universal feeling, however, is nerves — and Urban has just the trick for contestants feeling that way.

“I heard somebody say a while ago that when you say, ‘I’m really, really nervous, just change out the word to excited.’ And it has a profound change of energy in you,” he says. “And I’ve done it myself recently where I was doing something and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I’m so nervous.’ And then I’m like, ‘No, wait, I’m so excited.’ And it motivated me instead of giving this little tinge of fear or trepidation, and just changing the word made all the difference.”

Urban recently released singles “Straight Line” and “Messed Up as Me,” which are set to be featured on his upcoming album. Urban has yet to set a release date but he tells PEOPLE “it’s a very human record” that isn’t literal — and instead about a “feeling.”

“We’ll keep working our way towards a release date later this year, but I’m psyched to get it out. It’s been a very unique journey putting all these songs together and shaping the record. And in a lot of ways, the record shaped itself,” he says. “It had an energy and momentum of its own that I just started following. And I can’t put that into any other way, but that’s kind of what happened is that it felt like the record told me where to go and how to make it. It’s wild.”

“I have a lot of hope. And I think my calling has always been inclusivity in what I do. It’s certainly always been that way playing live in concert. My calling is to bring all these different kinds of people together and become one for a couple of hours,” he continues. “And it’s an amazing thing as a musician to be able to get to do that because even a sporting event splits the audience in two. But as musicians, we get to bring the most opposing kinds of people together who maybe only agree on this one thing, which is these songs in this moment.”