(4 / 5)
Rising US country star Alana Springsteen delivers sophomore album “I HOPE THIS HELPS” (stylised upper case) on 29th May, the follow up to her breakthrough debut long player “Twenty Something”.
Known for her authentic storytelling and cathartic lyrics, singer and songwriter Alana cites this album as her “most devastatingly honest” work to date. According to her online journal this, “music that’s coming is the last two years of my messy healing journey documented in song”.
She adds: “if you’ve ever felt like the odd one out, questioned the script you were handed as a kid, tried to make peace with the person you’re meant to be, stayed with the wrong person too long, or struggled to hear your own voice over everyone else’s, there’s probably a song here that’ll hit close to home.”
Born in Virginia Beach, Ms. Springsteen (no relation to Bruce) started writing songs at nine. At 10 she was travelling to Nashville for co-writing sessions with members of the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) and the performing rights organisation BMI, before her family uprooted and moved there permanently to support her career. She landed her first song publishing deal at 14, releasing debut EP “Slow Down” in 2019.
Although her sound leans heavily towards country, with plenty of twangy guitars and cowboy references, she doesn’t let the genre restrain her. In 2024, she released “Hot Honey”, a collaboration with DJ and electronic music star Tiesto, which earned the #1 spot on the Billboard Dance/Mix Show Airplay Chart.
Her first full length solo album, “Twenty Something”, released when she was 22, dissected the highs and lows of your early twenties with brutal openness. Now at 25, she’s ready to step into her full potential.
The 16 tracks on “I HOPE THIS HELPS” is topped and tailed with an intro and outro, plus there’s an interlude, that deliver the overarching message of learning to love yourself and choose your own path.
The intro starts with a home recording of a baby Alana singing, “All Things Bright and Beautiful”, before launching into the refrain we also hear repeated in the outro: “No revenge, that’s not me. No bad blood, I don’t lose no sleep. All my love, you can keep.Know you need it more than me. Oh I hope, I hope it helps. When you’re learning to love yourself. Been a while since you’ve done it well. So I hope this helps”.
The more sombre tracks on the album include: “note to self” which describes childhood trauma and finding the strength to move on. “feels good” touches on darker subjects including a bad drinking habit and trying to “run faster than the things that haunt me.” Following the drinking theme, “sad hour”, suggests that “if you’re coming off a goodbye, pull the barstool right by mine” and turn your “three o’clock, Wednesday whisky sour, into sad, sad hour”.
Alana’s breathy vocals are crystal clear, with well-crafted lyricism throughout. She’s also hands-on throughout the creative process, playing guitar and piano across this record, and also co-writer and co-producer credits [with an array of top producers: Mark Trussell, Ido Zmishlany, Sam Martinez, Sam Bergeson, Chris LaCorte, Steve Rusch, Will Weatherly, Zach Crowell, Jared Keim, Dave Clauss.]
Sonically, there’s a lot of finger-picked acoustic guitars with a sound that takes note from “Fearless”-era Taylor Swift (one of Alana Springsteen’s biggest influences as referenced on her song “taylor did” (stylised lower case as are all her song titles) from “Twenty Something”, but there’s a notable confidence and step up from the previous record.
She picks up the pace with “love to see it”, and the more vulnerable “love me anyway” but it’s in the post “interlude’ tracks that we get into more gritty territory; “same God” is a message to her family that she hasn’t lost her way despite the fame and lifestyle change. “diy” and “selfish” are empowering anthems as a reminder that “if he ain’t loving you right, just do it yourself” and “it ain’t easy to break patterns you’ve already learned” (fans of Kelsea Ballerini’s “Patterns” may enjoy this one).
It’s the final tracks “black sheep” and “how to swim” that are the standouts, where she is self-assured in the lyrics and knows exactly where she wants to go. In “black sheep” she rejects her previous people-pleasing ways to follow her dreams. “I used to want to blend in so badly” she admits, but now “looking in the mirror I’m finally happy”.
“I’m closer to the shore than I’ve ever been” is emphatically confirmed in the final chorus of “how to swim”. “Thought I was drowning, turns out I was learning how to swim.”
Alana has built up a loyal and growing fanbase in the UK through her via her acclaimed live performances at C2C Festival at London’s 02 Arena, and the Long Road Festival in Leicestershire. This new record will surely and deservedly add to those numbers.
By Fran Parry
(1 / 5) ‘Dull Zone’
(2 / 5) ‘OK Zone’
(3 / 5) ‘Decent Zone’
(4 / 5) ‘Super Zone’
(5 / 5) ‘Awesome Zone’
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