Esther Rose Announces New Album Want, Shares “New Bad”
Want will arrive May 25 via New West Records.
This morning, country singer-songwriter Esther Rose has announced her fifth album, Want, out May 25 via New West Records. Teasing the record’s release, she’s shared its lead single, “New Bad,” and an accompanying music video directed by New York Times bestselling author Anna Marie Tendler. In support of the album, Rose will also embark on a global tour, with dates spanning from this month through early June.
Rose recorded Want live-to-tape at the Bomb Shelter in Nashville, Tennessee, working with producer Ross Farbe (Video Age) and a host of talented collaborators, including singer-songwriter Dean Johnson and members from Video Age, The Deslondes and Silver Synthetic. Want is her first album since 2023’s Safe to Run, which Paste contributor Rayne Antrim wrote was, at the time, “her most-ambitious, resonant and fearless” release. Despite garnering critical acclaim, Esther Rose became so burnt out after touring in support of Safe to Run that she considered giving up music altogether.
After quitting drinking and experiencing breakthroughs in therapy, Esther felt rejuvenated and inspired to begin a new creative project. She toyed with multiple concepts when the album was in its embryonic stages, but she ultimately decided to cast her vulnerable lyrics in a multitude of musical aesthetics, resulting in her most diverse album to date. We can already hear her far-reaching approach at work on “New Bad,” and it’s absolutely enthralling: The thumping bassline and steady-going percussion of its opening verse promise a solid country-rocker, but the chorus unexpectedly nosedives into a cathartic, shoegaze-tinged spiral of electro-grunge distortion. The American country music scene has been an unprecedented hotbed of creativity lately, and I’m beyond eager to see how Esther Rose will continue expanding the genre on her new album.
“This record is introspective and internal,” Rose says of Want. “In these songs, I examine my thoughts and behavior patterns. There are other themes, fear being a big one. I write when I’m scared, and I was scared a lot, sometimes by external situations but mostly by deep-diving into my subconscious. Another theme is accountability. I’m still learning about this one.”
She continues, “I believe in the power of music to reveal and heal. Making this album was the most beautiful experience of my life.”
Read our 2023 profile on Esther Rose here. Watch the music video for “New Bad” and check out the Want artwork and tracklist below, along with her upcoming tour dates.
