Nashville songwriter Erin Rae has announced a new album titled Lighten Up. Produced by Jonathan Wilson, it’s due for release on February 4, 2022 (via Thirty Tigers) and includes contributions from Meg Duffy (Hand Habits), Ny Oh, and Kevin Morby. Today, Rae has previewed the LP with the new song ‘Modern Woman’, which comes with a music video featuring Brittany Howard, Kelsey Waldon, Michaela Anne, and others. Check it out below.
“‘Modern Woman’ from the start is meant to be a little cheeky, coming from me, a white femme-presenting woman, but it just sort of spilled out one day in the kitchen during the pandemic,” Rae told Rolling Stone. She continued:
It’s been so incredibly powerful to witness the discussion and evolution of gender norms through my peers and friends, as well as the representation of all bodies breaking more and more into mainstream media. The song is basically a speech to a figurative person who is uncomfortable with the disintegration of a tired definition of what it means to be a woman. With the video, Joshua Shoemaker and I wanted to celebrate and represent our friends in the community who relate to the term “woman” in different capacities, and basically brag on the diverse community of small business owners Nashville holds, and the work they are all doing to push Nashville forward, often against its will, into this new world of inclusivity.
Erin Rae released her last album, Putting on Airs, in 2018. “My last record was a lot of self-assessment and criticism, and trying to kick old habits and ways of relating and not relating to people,” Rae said. “This one is about blossoming, opening up, and living a little more in the present moment. Fully experiencing what it is to be human.”
Lighten Up Cover Artwork:
Lighten Up Tracklist:
1. Candy & Curry
2. Can’t See Stars
3. True Love’s Face
4. Gonna Be Strange
5. California Belongs To You
6. Cosmic Sigh
7. Modern Woman
8. Drift Away
9. Enemy
10. Mind/Heart
11. Lighten Up & Try
12. Undone
