Ashley Cooke boldly kicked off her sophomore era with her highly-anticipated, self-titled studio record on Friday (August 14).

Cooke, 29, described the project as “a coming-of-age record disguised as a relationship album. …It’s messy, self-reflective, indecisive, and filled with honesty, double entendres and emotional duality.” The Florida-born singer-songwriter wrote the record “smack dab in the middle” of the last two years of her life, revealing the unhealed, real-time “ups and downs” of “falling in love, recognizing my own patterns, leaving, going back, and figuring it out as you go.”

The “baby blues” artist went on to share in her statement that ashley cooke is “emotional,” yet “very fun… like crying in the car but also going out the same night,” she said. “It’s really deeply personal, and real, and something I’m still in the process of healing from which makes me 10x more complex. It’s a ‘90s‑it‑girl‑meets‑coastal‑Country take on modern relationships. It’s intentionally a little all over the place, because in my brain that’s what the experience felt like.”

Cooke’s newest 15-track record includes previously-released tracks like “baby blues,” “famous to frances,” “johnny ’n june,” “xs” and more, plus “dance around it” and other new anthems:

“if i’m being honest” (Ashley Cooke, Johnny Clawson, Kyle Sturrock) ^
“high school sweetheart” (Ashley Cooke, Boy Matthews, Cleo Tighe, Lauren Hungate, AFTERHRS) *
“baby blues” (Ashley Cooke, Johnny Clawson, Joe Fox, Kyle Sturrock, Seth Ennis) *
“famous to frances” (Ashley Cooke, Johnny Clawson, Kyle Sturrock) *
“johnny 'n june” (Ashley Cooke, Lauren Hungate, Emily Weisband, Will Weatherly) *
“excuses” (Ashley Cooke, Johnny Clawson, Kyle Sturrock) *
“dance around it” (Ashley Cooke, Jacob Durrett, Trevor Rosen, Emily Weisband) #
“sleepless in seattle” (Ashley Cooke, Lauren Hungate, Matt Roy, Johnny Clawson) *
“man behind the glass (feat. JP Saxe)” (Ashley Cooke, JP Saxe, Emily Weisband, Scott Krueger) + ♡
“i'm up and i'm down” (Ashley Cooke, Jordan Minton, Jordan Reynolds, Mark Trussell) *
“the hell you are” (Ashley Cooke, Chase McGill, Emily Weisband, Seth Ennis, Joe Fox) *
“between the lines” (Ashley Cooke, Lori McKenna, Hillary Lindsey, Liz Rose) *
“xs” (Ashley Cooke, Ashley Gorley, Emily Weisband, Will Weatherly) *
“when we’re 30” (Ashley Cooke, Will Weatherly, Kyle Sturrock) *
“the girl who cried wolf” (Ashley Cooke, Emily Weisband, Lauren Hungate, Joe Fox) ~ ♡

Produced by Dann Huff *

Produced by Will Weatherly ^

Produced by Jacob Durrett #

Produced by Joe Fox ~

Produced by Spacecamp +

Produced by Ashley Cooke ♡

Cooke’s newest studio record follows her 24-track debut, shot in the dark, which arrived in July 2023. The singer-songwriter’s first-ever studio album included collaborations with Nate Smith, Colbie Caillat, Jackson Dean and Brett Young, plus title track “shot in the dark,” “it’s been a year,” “your place,” and more. Cooke describes her sophomore era as “a real, raw rollercoaster of deeply personal situations.” Find the full album on iHeartRadio here.

Bill Ellis