Ella Langley Dandelion Review
Ella Langley, the CMA & ACM Award winnner from Hope Hull, just southwest of Montgomery in Alabama returns with her sophomore project this Friday which sees her also step into the chair and self-produce the record alongside Miranda Lambert and Ben West. Her co-producers leave their own imprint further on the record with both featuring amongst the writing credits, providing backing vocals and West recording instrumentals on seven of the tracks whilst Lambert is the only featured artist on the project as the duet partner for “Butterfly Season” towards the end of the eighteen song collection.
Whilst the co-writing credits read like the who is who of Music City including: Laura Veltz, Luke Dick, Devin Dawson, Jordan Schmidt, Aaron Raitiere, Meg McRee and Michael Hardy, Langley predominantly turned to Joybeth Taylor who was involved in the penning of twelve tracks across “Dandelion” where beyond Ella herself, only Charlie Worsham’s name appears more as he played guitar on seventeen of the eighteen offerings.
What is really evident throughout her second album is how it relates to where she came from and what shaped her journey to where she is today. You hear the journey starting from her childhood as the album begins with the opening verse of the traditional folk nursery rhyme “Froggy Went A Courtin’” and her interpretation of the final verse also bookends the album as the finale. The albums other reworking concludes the second third at number twelve and is a cover of the Kitty Wells classic “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” that was originally written by J.D. Miller. This is a really nice version (with Carter Faith and Jake Worthington providing backing vocals as a cool addition) that along with the folk verses really feels a necessary part of the album to not just complement it but help convey the overall theme of the project.
Whilst the co-writing credits read like the who is who of Music City including: Laura Veltz, Luke Dick, Devin Dawson, Jordan Schmidt, Aaron Raitiere, Meg McRee and Michael Hardy, Langley predominantly turned to Joybeth Taylor who was involved in the penning of twelve tracks across “Dandelion” where beyond Ella herself, only Charlie Worsham’s name appears more as he played guitar on seventeen of the eighteen offerings.
What is really evident throughout her second album is how it relates to where she came from and what shaped her journey to where she is today. You hear the journey starting from her childhood as the album begins with the opening verse of the traditional folk nursery rhyme “Froggy Went A Courtin’” and her interpretation of the final verse also bookends the album as the finale. The albums other reworking concludes the second third at number twelve and is a cover of the Kitty Wells classic “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” that was originally written by J.D. Miller. This is a really nice version (with Carter Faith and Jake Worthington providing backing vocals as a cool addition) that along with the folk verses really feels a necessary part of the album to not just complement it but help convey the overall theme of the project.
In the lead up to the release, four of the tracks were already released starting with the title track which sets the tone of the whole project and thematically ties it all together with how as much as things change, you are always drawn back to where you see as home. This is almost part of a second bookend to the project as inside the folk verses that start and end the record, “Dandelion” begins the original tracks and the acoustic “Most Good Things Do” perfectly reiterates the themes of home and familiarity to close it out.
Predominantly the record is a mixture of mid-tempo late night dive bar swooners and reflective ballads but it doesn’t feel at all samey as it flows really well where you could actually see each of the fifteen original tracks not just impacting at radio and on playlists but all of them following the success of lead single “Choosin’ Texas” which continues to keep adding to the rapidly growing list of statistical accolades. This is the track that will obviously draw people to the record but the rest of it grows on you so quickly and every song really does grab and maintain your attention.
Predominantly the record is a mixture of mid-tempo late night dive bar swooners and reflective ballads but it doesn’t feel at all samey as it flows really well where you could actually see each of the fifteen original tracks not just impacting at radio and on playlists but all of them following the success of lead single “Choosin’ Texas” which continues to keep adding to the rapidly growing list of statistical accolades. This is the track that will obviously draw people to the record but the rest of it grows on you so quickly and every song really does grab and maintain your attention.
The track which stands out the most on the album lives towards the centre of the collection and “I Gotta Quit” stands out because of the tempo because it is the album’s big, fun and rocky number with a big key change towards the end which Langley wrote with Joybeth Taylor and Aaron Raitiere. There is a lot of lyrical depth throughout the album particularly amongst the ballads where “We Know Us” and “Last Call For Us” both bring this to the forefront. The other thing that is really strong and is often overlooked is the musicianship brought throughout the project but two of the real gems from the record are “Low Lights” and “Speaking Terms” which are the pair of tracks featuring the string quartet of Gideon Klein, David Angell, David Davidson and Monica Angell which really elevate both songs wonderfully.
“Speaking Terms” for me is one of the two strongest songs on the project because I think it is the track that highlights the strength of her vocals to it’s fullest and it also is arranged to perfection in a blissfully soothing way. The other track that has a real sense of magic about it is the second Joybeth Taylor and Aaron Raitiere co-write in the form of the groovy sunset vibes of “You & Me Time” which has such a catchy hook and Miranda on backing vocals just gives it even more thought to make you smile throughout.
“Speaking Terms” for me is one of the two strongest songs on the project because I think it is the track that highlights the strength of her vocals to it’s fullest and it also is arranged to perfection in a blissfully soothing way. The other track that has a real sense of magic about it is the second Joybeth Taylor and Aaron Raitiere co-write in the form of the groovy sunset vibes of “You & Me Time” which has such a catchy hook and Miranda on backing vocals just gives it even more thought to make you smile throughout.
Miranda gets her own chance to make a highly noticeable impression on the album with a duet that complements both of their voices to perfection throughout the truly dreamy “Butterfly Season” which along with “Be Her” are the tracks that really show Langley’s reflective growth that she wanted to emphasise throughout this sophomore release.
“Dandelion” showcases warmth, vulnerability, lessons learned, moving on and coming home in a way that is perfect for afternoon drives, drinks at sunset, late night dive bars or times of personal reflection in a way that is universally relatable but really allows the Alabama native to share more of her story in a way where all the songs are infectious enough to be the entire soundtrack to your summer and solidifies her place as one of the, if not the most exciting female artist in country music right now.
“Dandelion” showcases warmth, vulnerability, lessons learned, moving on and coming home in a way that is perfect for afternoon drives, drinks at sunset, late night dive bars or times of personal reflection in a way that is universally relatable but really allows the Alabama native to share more of her story in a way where all the songs are infectious enough to be the entire soundtrack to your summer and solidifies her place as one of the, if not the most exciting female artist in country music right now.
* Produced by Ella Langley, Ben West & Miranda Lambert
+ Produced by Ella Langley & Miranda Lambert
The sophomore album “Dandelion” from Ella Langley is released on Friday 10th April via SAWGOD/Columbia Records and is available to pre-save HERE. Ella will begin ‘The Dandelion Tour’ in Toledo, OH on May 7th where you can find full details of dates on her WEBSITE or you can keep up to date with her socially on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK & FACEBOOK.
- Froggy Went A Courtin' - Intro (Traditional)#
- Dandelion (Ella Langley, Joybeth Taylor, Austin Goodloe & Brett Tyler)*
- Choosin' Texas (Langley, Taylor, Luke Dick & Miranda Lambert)*
- We Know Us (Langley, Taylor & Ben West)*
- Low Lights (Langley & Taylor)*
- Be Her (Langley, Smith Ahnquist, Jordan Schmidt & Michael Hardy)*
- You & Me Time (Langley, Taylor & Aaron Raitiere)*
- Loving Life Again (Langley, Ernest K. Smith & Devin Dawson)*
- Bottom Of Your Boots (Langley, Will Bundy & Jon Nite)*
- Speaking Terms (Taylor & Helene Cronin)*
- I Gotta Quit (Langley, Taylor & Raitiere)+
- It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels (J.D. Miller)*
- Last Call For Us (Langley, Taylor, Tyler & Goodloe)*
- Broken (Langley, Taylor, Goodloe & Laura Veltz)*
- Somethin' Simple (Langley, Taylor, Meg McRee & Chris LaCorte)*
- Butterfly Season - Feat. Miranda Lambert (Langley, Dick, Lambert & Taylor)*
- Most Good Things Do (Langley, Dick, Raitiere & Taylor)*
- Froggy Went A Courtin' – OUTRO (Traditional)#
* Produced by Ella Langley, Ben West & Miranda Lambert
+ Produced by Ella Langley & Miranda Lambert
The sophomore album “Dandelion” from Ella Langley is released on Friday 10th April via SAWGOD/Columbia Records and is available to pre-save HERE. Ella will begin ‘The Dandelion Tour’ in Toledo, OH on May 7th where you can find full details of dates on her WEBSITE or you can keep up to date with her socially on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK & FACEBOOK.
