Dallas, Texas-based singer-songwriter Elaina Kay isn't holding back on her forthcoming debut album Issues (out on Aug. 2), a bold eight song collection produced by Paul Cauthen and recorded at Modern Electric in Dallas. The album, which features the Texas Gentlemen as Kay's backing band, finds Kay drawing on past experiences, such as her father's brush with the law ("Daddy Issues") and sharing how each heartbreak and setback shaped her into the woman she is today.
"This record is not being afraid to take risks, yet becoming stronger and wiser," Kay tells Wide Open Country. "It pulls from the fragile years of my childhood, but embraces becoming an empowered, confident woman today."
Kay grew up working on her family's ranch in Wichita Falls, Texas and began performing at county fairs and beauty pageants and penning songs in between her daily chores. "Rodeo" is a rollicking ode to her days working the rodeo circuit while "Lose a Little" is an ardent battle cry fit for any woman striving to make it in the music business.
The tear-soaked "Cheating Me Out of Love" proves Kay's prowess as a modern day country torch singer, but it's clear that Kay isn't interested in spending her days waiting around for a man to come to his senses. "Pull Your Own Weight" finds the Texan giving a booze-guzzling coach potato a dressing down that would make Loretta Lynn proud.
"Baby, I love you, but I ain't you mama," Kay sings. "Let's get one thing straight — you better pull your own weight."
Album closer "Wild Horse" is an anthem for anyone with a healthy dose of ramblin' fever and no desire to settle down.
Fearless, honest and bitingly funny, Issues is one of the most promising debut albums of the year.
Listen to Issues in full below.
"When I write a song about something, I'm over it—I can close that book and move on with my life," Kay said in a press release. "That's what I want for people who listen to my songs. If one of my songs could get someone to that other side, like it has for me, that'd be the coolest thing."
For more information on Elaina Kay, visit her official website.
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