Ella Langley - hungover

When a song successfully impacts country radio, there will undoubtedly be a series of contenders attempting to match the winning formula. Within the hit factory, they percolate until fully cooked, often losing artistic distinction. All subsequently leaving the listener to play the game of “Who is this? Is this that song? They kinda sound like…” until complete exhaustion. With Ella Langley’s infectious hit, ‘you look like you love me,’ it would be best for all involved to admire from afar and not make any desperate attempts at a recreation. Quite simply, there’s only one Ella Langley.

With spoken word verses, Langley conjures nostalgic magic alongside up-and-coming country star Riley Green. ‘you look like you love me’ connects because it respects the past without reinventing it. It’s structurally fresh from the rest of radio’s current offerings, while representing a singular point of view. Rest assured, though, this is not Langley’s entry into one-hit-wonder-dom. This succinct approach, matched with an impenetrable sense of self, is expansively demonstrated across fourteen distinctive tracks on her dynamic major label debut, hungover.

Langley has the kind of voice to avoid in a dark alley; razor sharp, dangerous and unwilling to relent. Across hungover, Will Bundy’s tireless production goes head-to-head with Langley; each round propelling her inescapable vocals and writing prowess further to resounding victory. The title track delves into a familiar tug-of-war of loving someone who isn’t worthy, her voice dripping with hesitant regret across a bluesy chorus. Langley’s ability to infuse every ounce of herself into telling a story is further shared on the gorgeously rendered ‘nicotine.’ With a slight rock-leaning rasp, she defiantly laments, “Take my breath make it hard to breathe / The one I want but just don’t need,” to heartbreaking results.

Yet, Langley isn’t one to let love get the best of her. Spunky ‘better be tough’ brings the humor with an extra serving of truth telling for a disappointing beau. Similarly, ‘cowboy friends’ is a swinging, boot-stomping romp that is destined for TikTok virality. With hilariously unfiltered lines like ‘You think you’re such a big shot with that big ten-gallon hat / Overcompensating, you know what they say about that,” it’s hard not to envision a crowded honky tonk screaming every word. Though she isn’t all laughs, as evidenced on tender ‘closest to heaven,’ where the crystalline cracks in her voice practically induce tears as she honors an authentically told love story over a sweeping melody.

hungover is a superbly realized debut that will likely do for Langley what Miranda Lambert’s Kerosene did for her in 2005: establish her as a fearlessly original voice in country music that doesn’t just deserve, but demands to be heard.

8/10

Ella Langley’s 2024 project, hungover, is available everywhere on August 2 via SAWGOD Records/Columbia.

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