A standout on her incredibly impressive sophomore studio album.
Ella Langley is already off to a HOT start with Dandelion, which broke the record for biggest female album debut on Spotify this year as she racked up 17.2 MILLION streams the day it was released:
‘Dandelion’ by Ella Langley breaks the record for biggest female album debut on Spotify this year (17.2 MILLION streams). pic.twitter.com/HccONBOR4R
— Buzzing Pop (@BuzzingPop) April 11, 2026
Last year, when she was the most nominated female artist walking into the ACM Awards, while many thought she would be living her best life, she was struggling on the inside. In an interview shared by Chicago’s The Scotty Kay Show, Langley admitted that the week of the ACM Awards was one of the “toughest mental health weeks” she has had in a long time.
She subsequently took some time off the road and spent time reconnecting with herself and her family, and she’s since opened up about how much that time changed her spiritual life, as she found a real relationship with God for the first time in her adult life.
During a conversation with Jo Dee Messina during Country Radio Seminar in March, Ella got very personal about exactly what happened, telling the audience that this “God moment,” which you can read about in detail HERE, inspired a song on her new album Dandelion called “Speaking Terms,” which Ella explained is about her journey back to God and how much her faith has grown.
She knows he never left her, but it maybe didn’t always feel that way in the moment:
“He never did. But it took me to my knees, and I’m so grateful for the journey that He’s led me on because it genuinely has grown me into the human being that is made to do this, and He let me venture out far enough, but He was like, ‘You ain’t that far. I got you right here.’
So last year, I pulled my Bible out. I had dust all over it. I had to look for it for two days. But every day, I was in the Word, I’m still doing that and I’m still growing and that’s the thing, with all of these questions, ‘How are you getting through this?’ It’s that. It is truly that. That is the thing that saved my life last year.”
It was one of the songs I was most excited to hear, and surprisingly, Ella wasn’t part of writing it, and it was Joybeth Taylor and Helene Cronin who penned “Speaking Terms,” though it’s obviously a song that spoke to Ella on a very personal level.
It opens with her recalling the childlike faith she used to have as a young girl, never questioning God or his plans for her life. It was easy to believe, “as easy as breathing,” and she always knew God was as “close as my next prayer.” But like many of us discover as we get older,” the world will break you down, break your heart and shake your faith”:
“I used to kneel beside my bed at night when I was small
It was easy as breathing, believing wasn’t hard at all
I knew that You were there close as my next prayer
The world will break you down, break your heart
And shake your faith but now you feel so far away
I don’t know who’s to blame
I don’t talk to You as much, maybe that’s part of growing up”
I think most people who are Christians like Ella would tell you they have been through more than one season of life that feels like a real struggle in every aspect, including faith, and her honesty about that is important because it’s easy for people to look at her and all of the success she’s had and think it’s always been easy or she always has it all together… clearly, it’s been quite the opposite, and she’s been very open about that both in her music and throughout various interviews.
The next verse, she very honestly admits that she’s started to use God as a wishing well, so to speak, admitting that she mostly comes around now “when things aren’t working out,” wanting answers and only thinking about herself. If we’re being as honest as she is, I think that’s something a lot of us can relate to, and Ella’s vulnerability in admitting her innermost personal thoughts in a song is what makes her such a special artist:
“I mostly come around now when things aren’t working out
I show up with my questions, my stumbles, and my doubts
Always thinking of myself, and always asking You for help”
In the chorus, she talks about feeling like her prayers are more of a “one way conversation,” feeling like she’s not getting any answers. She knows that a lot of the time, the answers to our prayers are “in the silence,” but having the patience to embrace that in a waiting season is incredibly challenging, at least for me, and all she really wants is a sign that she and God are still on “speaking terms”:
“I carry on this one way conversation
I’m listening but You don’t say a word
If Your answer’s in the silence, I’ll be patient
But it’s hard to know my prayers are being heard
I’m waiting on a whisper, just something to confirm that
You and me are still on speaking terms”
It’s such a beautiful concept and fresh take on the term “speaking terms,” and Ella’s authenticity and admission of her own struggles will surely be a help to anyone else feeling the same way… life is hard, it’s unfortunately all too easy to feel disconnected from God in this modern, digital age we live in (although I think humans have struggled with it since the beginning of time), and I find “Speaking Terms” to be one of the best, most honest and real songs on the album.
There are so many great ones to choose from, though none as meaningful as this one, and when you’re as honest as Ella is on “Speaking Terms,” I think it’s hard to imagine anyone couldn’t relate to it in one way or another. I can’t stress enough how hard it really is for an artist to put themselves out there the way Ella did with recording this song, and I think it’s one of the best she’s ever put out.
Do yourself a favor and check it out:
“Speaking Terms”
