The corn queen has delivered once again.
Hailey Whitters’ new 6-song EP I’m In Love is out everywhere today, and is full of that great 90’s-style production we heard on the previously released title track, “Tie’r Down,” and her fan-favorite hit “Everything She Ain’t,” as well.
Produced by Hailey along with her husband Jake Gear, the three new songs are all total jams, and definitely unique to who she is as both an artist, person, and Midwest girl at heart.
Hailey says the concept of the project aims to focus on who she is now and the journey to get to this point in her life, so it’s even more personal than her previous full-length releases The Dream (2020) and Raised (2022):
“My last two LPs were concept records – ‘The Dream’ being about my Nashville experience, and ‘Raised’ was a love letter to the heartland I’m from.
Both of these records are foundational to who I am. Along the way I’ve lived a lot of life and learned a lot about myself, and I’m excited to get more personal and straight from the heart with this next chapter.
If you’ve made it this far, you know where I’m coming from. Now I’m ready to share where I’ve been and who I am.”
“Countryside Chick” is a fun track with clever play on words, where she admits that she’s more of a “countryside chick” who wants to be out on a piece of land living the simple life, as opposed to a “country side-chick” who doesn’t know her worth, among other things.
It’s really upbeat and fun, but still has such a great message and I’ve already had it on repeat:
“Countryside Chick”
“Mellencamp” pays homage to Hailey’s fellow heartlander John Mellencamp, and includes quite a few fun references to his biggest hits.
It has a beautiful, catchy melody and is a solid edition to the EP.
“Mellencamp”
“Bad Love” features more great songwriting, where Hailey admits that she’s gone through many failed relationships in the past, but it’s all been worth it, because:
“It got me to the good love
The want it so bad love, bad love, bad love”
There’s also some really cool production on this one, and with such a relatable, universal concept, it’s an easy standout for me:
“Bad Love”
I’ve been of Hailey for quite a while now, and this is easily one of my favorite projects she’s ever put out, and definitely near the top of my list of releases this year.
She released her third studio album Raised early last year, and her current single at country radio “Everything She Ain’t” is still steadily climbing the charts, well on its way to becoming a Top 10 hit that is already a fan-favorite and streaming smash by any considerable metric.
And I know we just got new songs, but I can only hope these might be part of another, bigger project because it’s such a strong statement and feels like the sound that fits her so perfectly, with a lot of fiddle, steel and banjo and just the right amount of 90’s country flair.
There’s such a dreamy element to a lot of her visuals and videos too, which I feel like really comes through in the music here as well, and gives it such a unique element that I’m so happy she brings to the country genre.
And I’ll leave you with the title track, because I haven’t been able to get it out of my head and it’s still my absolute favorite from the new project:
“I’m In Love”
