Vorige week verscheen met Getting It Right het derde en laatste deel van een trilogie die uiteindelijk resulteert in de jongedame haar debuutalbum. Vorig jaar nog gooide ze het tweeluik History of Breaking Up op de markt. Best productief dus, deze 22-jarige 'rising star' aan het country firmament die nu toch al zo'n zeven jaar aan de weg timmert.
Waar blijven ze toch uitkomen, denk ik soms. Het genre (country & western) flirt al decennialang met verschillende andere genres, tot Shania Twain en Faith Hill de stap richting pop waagden en hun succes ongekende hoogtes bereikte. Volgden o.a. kleppers als Kacey Musgraves, Taylor Swift, Maren Morris en Kelsea Ballerini, om er maar enkele te noemen die hier misschien ook wel een belletje doen rinkelen. Met Springsteen, Sophia Scott en Zandi Hollup staat er alweer eens een nieuwe generatie te trappelen om de spotlights te pakken.
En dan komen de meeste releases van die jonge generatie niet eens tot hier, al krijgen we nu reeds dat dertien-in-een-dozijn gevoel. No worries, ik filter er wel enkele uit die (hopelijk) net boven het pack uitzweven.
Wat doet Alana Springsteen dan boven al die andere countrypopsterretjes uitkomen? Het zit hem in de details hoor: ze schrijft en producet haar eigen songs (nu ja, dat doen tegenwoordig de meeste), ze speelt gitaar en piano (ehm, ...) én ze beschikt over een jonge, heldere maar erg sterke stem. In één van de vele mooie songs op dit debuut omschrijft ze het zelf een beetje als different kinda country: 'I've been living all the words they sang, I just did it with a little less twang' of 'Little less boots, a little more bare feet' met als conclusie 'It's all the same but it ain't the same.' Alana doet dus in feite niets anders dan wat alle andere countrypoppers doen, alleen voel ik het bij haar meer en luister ik héél graag naar haar pretentieloze, goed in het oor liggende liedjes die op maat van diverse radio's zijn geschreven en toch recht uit het hart komen. Tussen de 18 nummers staan er trouwens weinig die niet een instant hitsingle zouden kunnen zijn. In alle eerlijkheid, ik heb slechts één nummer geskippt, m.n. thinkin' straight, het veruit meest poppy nummer.
Om er een paar te noemen die er dan echt wel uitspringen: ghost in my guitar met de fenomenale Chris Stapleton die wat licks cadeau doet, het pakkende twenty something, de ingetogen ode aan haar grote voorbeeld taylor did en natuurlijk het eerder vermelde different kinda country.
Releasedatum: 18 augustus 2023
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Columbia Records NY/Sony Music Nashville artist-songwriter Alana Springsteen releases her hotly anticipated and groundbreaking debut album TWENTY SOMETHING. Made up of three fully realized and fearlessly honest installments – Messing It Up, Figuring It Out, and Getting It Right – the 18-track collection is an intimate yet deeply resonant document of the nonstop emotional roller coaster of life in your 20s.
“It’s hard to believe all 18 songs on my debut album are out in the world. This music has already taken me on more adventures than I can count. I write these songs because I have to. It’s the only way I can start to understand what’s actually happening inside and around me. What ends up healing me though, are the people who find their own stories in them. People who listen, reach out, and help me feel less alone with the thoughts in my head and the feelings in my heart,” shares Springsteen. “Getting It Right bookends TWENTY SOMETHING in a hopeful way. As heavy, introspective, and foundational as the last few years have been for me, I’ve also experienced some of the happiest, proudest, most invigorating, and cathartic moments of my life. Moments that prove to me that I’m on the right path ... that I am figuring it out and learning from the messes I make.”
Cementing her status as one of the most dynamic new voices in Country music today, TWENTY SOMETHING immediately sets Springsteen apart from other up-and-comers thanks to her hands-on and high-level role in every aspect of the album-making process. To that end, the 22-year-old co-wrote all 18 songs, co-produced nearly every track, and plays guitar and piano throughout the full-length project, elevating each moment with her one-of-a-kind vision and limitless creativity. In a testament to her extraordinary musicianship and supreme songwriting talents, TWENTY SOMETHING also finds Springsteen collaborating with Country superstars like Chris Stapleton and co-writing alongside heavy-hitters like Dan + Shay’s Shay Mooney, as well as GRAMMY Award-winners Shane McAnally (Kacey Musgraves, Kenny Chesney, Kelsea Ballerini) and Liz Rose (Taylor Swift, Little Big Town). Already stacking high acclaim from critics, NPR praises, “Few artists dissect and make sense of life in your 20s quite like Alana Springsteen,” while The Tennessean applauds “her detailed, mature, nuanced view of relationships.” Likewise, Nashville Lifestyles hails, “The trilogy of country-pop catharsis is complete. Tracing her own coming-of-age with confident vocals and wry wit, it’s the soundtrack to an indelible decade.”
TWENTY SOMETHING: Getting It Right – the third and final installment of TWENTY SOMETHING – launches 8/18 alongside the full album. Recently introducing its carefree and infectiously confident track called “look i like,” Springsteen sets the tone for the rest of her 20s with a soul-baring new release “amen.” The final track on TWENTY SOMETHING, “amen” epitomizes the album’s full-hearted honesty and all-too-real emotional complexity. In bringing the stark but soulful song to life, Springsteen co-wrote alongside Delacey (Halsey, Dove Cameron), Sarah Solovay (Bebe Rexha, Nessa Barrett), and Ido Zmishlany (Shawn Mendes, Jonas Brothers), arriving at a confessional meditation on all the heartache and glory that comes with boldly following your own path: “And I give myself permission / To go and make some bad decisions / ‘Cause I’m only tryna find out who I am.” Produced by Zmishlany (whose production credits include Justin Bieber and Imagine Dragons) and Springsteen, “amen” brings her powerful but tender vocal performance to a mesmerizing backdrop of moody acoustic guitar, gorgeously nuanced textures, and – in a particularly meaningful moment at the bridge – a sampled voicemail from her mother. Co-directed by David Bradley and Springsteen, the accompanying video for “amen” takes place in a shadowy church, where Springsteen sits atop a stool by the altar and delivers an achingly heartfelt performance. As “amen” reaches a poignant moment, the clip flashes to footage of Springsteen onstage in a massive stadium lit up by the cell phones of adoring fans, presenting a striking image of just how far she’s come by staying true to her dreams. Listen to “amen” here.
