If Miranda Lambert is involved, I already know I’m going to love it.
Today, Ella Langley announced her highly anticipated sophomore album Dandelion consisting of 18 songs will be out on April 10th, which she produced alongside Miranda and Ben West, and of course, she already has a hit in the lead single, “Choosin’ Texas.”
Ella says she wanted it to feel like “the best kind of Sunday afternoon,” and the record really serves as a love letter to her childhood memories and that feeling of nostalgia and freedom:
“This record has so much growth in it. I’ve never poured more of myself into a project, into a song, into an idea, and it’s fallen out so beautifully. It’s about learning yourself, making mistakes, and realizing that it’s all just part of life.
I want this record to be something that fans can relate to, but also something they want to get up and dance to at the same time. To me, this record feels like fireflies in the summertime. It feels like windows down on a red dirt road. It feels like the best kind of Sunday afternoon.
It feels like those days I remember as a kid where it felt like there weren’t enough hours in the day. This record is really a love letter to that.”
Ella of course put out her debut album Hungover in the summer of 2024, which featured her smash hit, award-winning song with Riley Green “You Look Like You Love Me.”
But her aforementioned song “Choosin’ Texas” is well on its way to becoming another smash hit, and thanks to the Texas influence of Miranda, I’d say we can pretty much already predict that will be the case with the entire album.
Ella has spoken before about how much she looks up to Miranda and loves her music, and becoming friends with her has been surreal… so I can only imagine how crazy it is to have worked with Miranda on producing this album:
“I’ll tell you what, I’ve been such a massive fan of Ms. Miranda Lambert, and it’s been the coolest thing to get to become friends the last couple years. I mean, come on. You just look up to her. She’s a legend; she’s an icon. She’s an incredible songwriter, and I’ve always wanted to write a song with her.
It was a year ago this month. I got my first opportunity to write with her. We were on one of these things called a writer’s retreat, where you take a couple of your favorite people and you just sit down for however many days and write songs. And hopefully some of them are good.”
And I think the feeling is mutual, as Miranda took to Instagram herself to congratulate Ella and tell the world what an “honor” it was to work with her, also noting how much she cherishes their friendship:
“Thank you Ella for ‘Choosin Texas’ to help you produce this amazing record. It’s been an honor working with you and Ben. I cherish your friendship sister. You are a ‘Dandelion’ and I can’t wait for the world to hear this.”
It’s already been proven by one single that they make an incredible pair, and I am thrilled to see them working together in such an involved and meaningful way. Miranda obviously has the experience and knowledge that a young, very successful artist like Ella needs in terms of a mentor, and I just think it’s so cool that they’ve teamed up like this.
It’s truly invaluable how much her expertise, and friendship, I imagine, means to this whole thing, and Ella is certainly in good hands with an all-star pro like Miranda. I said from the get go that “Choosin’ Texas” was special, and easily my favorite song that Ella has ever put out, and I am sure that will be no different when it comes to this entire record.
“Choosin’ Texas”
