Keith Urban ''absorbs'' other artist's music like a ''sponge''.

The 'Blue Ain't Your Colour' hitmaker likes to listen to a variety of music genres before he works on his own tracks.

He said: ''I tend to think I make records more so like a sponge than focusing on every manner of a thing. Before I start working on a record, I'm listening to all kinds of stuff.

''I'm Shazam-ing madly, just kind of absorbing everything. And then I go into the studio and kind of wring it out. I don't know what has gone in there until it comes out. Then it's, 'Oh, apparently what's in there is nothing at all what I thought was.'''

And the 49-year-old musician - who has Faith, five, and Sunday, eight, with his wife Nicole Kidman - considers his own music genre as ''contemporary country''.

He added: ''I've always played contemporary country. It's more pop-leaning and my own influences have always been pretty broad anyway.

''I started in Australian pubs and clubs where you have to have a bit of attitude and edge. When I got here in Nashville, it was always a bit of a fusion - a country-rock-pop mix.''

Meanwhile, Keith - who released his album 'Ripcord' earlier this year - loves being on tour and described the show as a ''living organism''.

He told newsday.com: ''The show is a living organism. It's moving and changing all the time - make arrangement changes, add segues between songs. It's a living, breathing thing.

''We have a set list, but there are moments like when the quarterback calls an audible. It's so much fun musically. The kind of crowd that has come out on this tour is like a whole new audience for our shows. It's not just hard-core country fans. It's very diverse.''