Nashville singer/songwriter Bre Kennedy leads with vulnerability on “Willow,” the newest glimpse into her most private and transformative album but – returning softer, stronger, and extra confident as she opens a strong new chapter.
Stream: “Willow” – Bre Kennedy
I’ve realized that if I’m telling the reality, even when it’s a bit of bizarre or messy, it’ll resonate. But when I attempt to sugarcoat it, it gained’t land.
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Bre Kennedy has at all times written from the center, however her upcoming album The Alchemist takes issues even deeper.
Sincere and unfiltered, the file appears like a private journal that traces the trail from heartbreak to therapeutic with all of the messy, significant moments in between.
Her new single, “Willow,” out now, units the tone. It’s a quiet reflection on what it means to interrupt down and rebuild. “I’m comfortable and resilient,” she sings, summing up the stress and steadiness on the core of the music. It’s a transparent glimpse of what to anticipate from her highly-anticipated fourth studio album, due January 30, 2026.
Some days, I really feel like a tree
Rising in me
Beginning to sweep the ground and
Some days, I really feel in between
Who I was
And who I’m nonetheless reaching for
When the solar goes down
On the finish of the day
Are you able to hear me say
“Who am I anyway”?
I’m the lady within the entrance seat
Placing on her face
Carrying the load
Of yesterday
The venture was born from a season of collapse. In 2023, Kennedy ended a relationship that spanned most of her twenties, which left her emotionally gutted however finally led her again to herself.
“It was a foundational demolition,” she says. “I needed to stroll into the actually scary, darkish rooms of my life and never draw back.”
Fairly than draw back, Kennedy did what artists do greatest: She documented it. Throughout 10 tracks, The Alchemist traces the real-time unfolding of grief, grace, and private and inventive development. By means of all of it, her voice stays regular, even when trembling. These aren’t songs written after the mud had settled – they’re snapshots from contained in the storm.
For Kennedy, creating The Alchemist wasn’t simply inventive; it was non secular. Impressed by writers like Glennon Doyle, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Rebecca Solnit – all of whom have written about dismantling identification – she started to see storytelling as a form of salvation.
“Their willingness to be courageous in public helped me discover the braveness to do the identical,” she says.
Similar to a willow’s
So candy but it surely’s so heavy
Similar to a halo’s
Holy exhausting to carry regular
Nonetheless, even with years of Nashville songwriting beneath her belt, Kennedy admits that this file feels completely different.
It’s extra uncovered, extra confrontational, and likewise extra beneficiant. These aren’t simply heartbreak songs, they’re survival guides for anybody navigating their very own turning into.
With a birthday-week launch for “Willow,” a full album on the way in which, and a headlining tour slated for subsequent yr, she’s stepping boldly into her subsequent chapter.
Atwood caught up with Kennedy to speak about songwriting as a therapeutic course of, how Kate Winslet impressed the file, and why she’s lastly realized to offer herself grace.
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:: stream/buy Willow right here ::
:: pre-save The Alchemist right here ::
:: join with Bre Kennedy right here ::
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A CONVERSATION WITH BRE KENNEDY
Atwood Journal: This album has been known as your most susceptible and assured but, which feels so applicable. What experiences formed this new degree of openness in your songwriting?
Bre Kennedy: That’s actually been my work – unlearning quite a lot of the methods I used to manage. I went by means of a breakup in 2023 after practically a decade-long relationship, mainly all of my twenties. It felt like a foundational demolition. All of the sudden, I used to be again on the core of every part once more.
That introduced up interior baby work, and it made me actually take a look at the girl I used to be. That chapter of my life was stunning, however now I’m in a special room, or perhaps within the hallway, on my technique to a brand new one. I needed to get actually trustworthy with myself to change into the girl I like. And that meant strolling into the darkish, scary rooms of my life as an alternative of avoiding them, which is what I’d performed earlier than. That’s what received me there.
The final two years have been about grieving – not simply the connection, but in addition grieving a model of myself that didn’t defend her personal coronary heart. I’m studying the right way to give myself grace. I used to suppose I wanted to seek out that in another person, however I’ve realized I get to offer that to myself.
That’s how this album happened – actually from being damaged. Some folks go their complete lives with out attending to that place.
It sucks that you simply needed to undergo that…
Bre Kennedy: Yeah, and I’ll in all probability undergo it once more. Perhaps I’ve been right here earlier than. I don’t know. There are nonetheless moments when it actually sucks. I’m watching my mother undergo it for the primary time, and it’s wild. We have now to remind one another: It’s okay to not have all of it collectively. This stage is gross and humbling and foolish… after which there’s Jeni’s Ice Cream.
What was your mother’s response to the music?
Bre Kennedy: I haven’t performed her any of the brand new ones but. She’s at present going by means of her personal unraveling, beginning a brand new chapter in her life. I’m nonetheless processing that in actual time. I’ll present her the songs as soon as the storm settles.
On the very finish of The Alchemist, you hear my grandma speaking in regards to the 2020 twister. I used to be studying Untamed by Glennon Doyle on the time, and I bear in mind considering, “There’s a twister inside me, too.” Now, I simply wish to be there for my mother and grandma as they stroll by means of their very own storms. When the time is correct, I’ll sit with my mother and share the songs.
You talked about Untamed, and I do know Glennon Doyle and Elizabeth Gilbert have been huge influences for you. How did their writing form this album?
Bre Kennedy: Studying their tales – how visceral and open they have been about dismantling the tales they thought they have been alleged to dwell – blew my thoughts. It confirmed me the significance of sharing your story and taking over area, particularly as an artist.
Generally I’ll put out a music and see it solely has 8,000 views, and I believe nobody’s listening. However then I’ll play a present and somebody will come as much as me after and say, “That one lyric received me by means of my divorce.” These moments remind me that honesty issues.
Books like Untamed and Huge Magic, A Subject Information to Getting Misplaced rocked my world. They made me understand that the place I’m proper now could be a part of a much bigger story. And that’s price sharing.
Is there a lyric on the album that offers you chills whenever you sing it dwell?
Bre Kennedy: Sure, in “The Alchemist,” the primary verse got here straight from my journal: “My mom cried when she opened her eyes / she was born…”
It appears like I’m speaking about myself, however actually, I’m speaking about my mother, studying the right way to make mates along with her, understanding she’s simply doing her greatest. It’s about watching my mother undergo her journey along with her mother, and realizing that inside, she’s nonetheless that little lady. I’m feeling a lot love and style for her in a method I by no means have earlier than.
Earlier, you talked about turning into the girl you wish to be. Can you describe who that’s, or is it one thing you’re nonetheless determining?
Bre Kennedy: It’s undoubtedly nonetheless unfolding. However I had this life teaching session – and I used to roll my eyes at that form of factor – however a buddy supplied, and I used to be contemporary out of the breakup and stated, “Positive, why not.” She requested me to image a desk surrounded by ladies who encourage me – the folks I love, perhaps even really feel jealous of. Who’re they?
At my desk, there’s somebody who reveals up on time, stuffed with integrity. Somebody who takes up area unapologetically and encourages others to do the identical. Somebody who fills the desk with meals and shares it and needs everybody to expertise it. After which, Kate Winslet.
That train helped me perceive the form of lady I wish to change into. I wish to be somebody who turns what occurred in her life into one thing significant. That’s what The Alchemist is about. I’m working towards turning into that particular person on daily basis – even after I fall again.
I used to be feeling actually grounded from January to Might, like, “I’m doing nice!” Then one little factor knocked me off steadiness. And one other. I used to be like, “I simply did all that work… how am I again right here?”
However my therapist jogged my memory: That’s how therapeutic works. One step ahead, two steps again; it means you’re witnessing your individual patterns and making progress.
Is there a music on the album that captures that concept probably the most?
Bre Kennedy: “Changing into” facilities across the second I spotted I used to be the one I’d been on the lookout for all alongside. I didn’t want to seek out myself in anybody else, particularly not in a person. I used to be at all times it.
I’ve by no means been a songwriter, by no means shared one thing so private on stage. How do you put together for the world to listen to one thing this susceptible?
Bre Kennedy: I believe I’ve simply realized – by means of trial and error – that when I attempt to disguise one thing, it connects much less. And if it connects much less with others, it connects much less with me. And I crave connection. I hate small discuss; I dwell for conversations like this.
So, I’ve realized that if I’m telling the reality, even when it’s a bit of bizarre or messy, it’ll resonate. But when I attempt to sugarcoat it, it gained’t land.
That stated, I’m actually struggling proper now with the right way to share content material round this album. I wish to be trustworthy, however typically I ponder: “Who even cares if I’m susceptible when the world feels prefer it’s on hearth?” However then I bear in mind how different folks’s honesty – in books, in interviews – helped me be trustworthy. And that has a ripple impact.
We simply want extra Kate Winslets on the earth. Actually, I simply need her to listen to this album.
We should always undoubtedly tag her within the article! Is there a specific Kate Winslet position that resonates most with you?
Bre Kennedy: Actually, all of them. She’s at all times so robust and grounded; she actually captures what it means to be a lady. I noticed this interview the place she talked about somebody commenting on her weight in the course of the Titanic press tour, and she or he nonetheless cries about it. She was so younger, and somebody made her really feel ashamed only for being a lady. That second caught with me. We’re simply out right here doing our greatest, and our our bodies are actually constructed to carry life into the world. We’re like wildflowers. It’s magnificent.
I’ve seen interviews with Britney Spears when she was youthful, they usually have been heartbreaking – the sorts of questions folks would ask her.
Bre Kennedy: It’s complete idiocracy, and sadly, it’ll at all times exist. Individuals will at all times venture their insecurities onto others – some even make a profession out of it. However I believe the true bravery is in being ourselves regardless of all that. That’s what folks join with.
These are the folks I root for, like, “Sure! Go. Screw up. Be messy. Simply go.” I don’t have time for the critics. I’m busy.
You’ve labored with some unbelievable folks, together with Sheryl Crow. Did she provide you with any recommendation that caught with you?
Bre Kennedy: Once I launched “Jealous of Birds,” I received the decision about Sheryl perhaps per week later. I used to be working at a brewery in Nashville on the time, and I simply bear in mind writing her a card that stated: “From one songbird to a different.”
Once I met her, she simply checked out me and stated, “Go inform them who you’re.” I’ll always remember that. It was so empowering. She’s at all times performed her personal factor, and that’s at all times impressed me.
That’s very cool. Is there a second in the course of the recording course of that you simply suppose again on and it nonetheless makes you smile?
Bre Kennedy: Sure! I’m actually glad you requested that as a result of I’ve been having a tough time remembering how a lot good got here from making this file, and that query introduced all of it again.
I’ve so many movies on my telephone from after we have been recording “Willow” of simply me and my longtime bandmates, the identical individuals who made my first file with me. Coming again to them felt actually therapeutic. We have been simply enjoying and playing around, making one thing grassroots and trustworthy. I bear in mind considering, “Wow, that is some new vitality I’m in. That is particular.”
I had simply come off tour with Stephen Wilson Jr., and I felt actually pleased with the place I used to be – like I used to be getting into a brand new section. I’ve been speaking about these things onstage, and when Melissa Fuller and I lastly completed writing “The Alchemist,” it was such a breakthrough second. We had tried to write down it 3 times earlier than that.
The lyric about my mother got here out, and we each simply sat there like, “Whoa.” It was so therapeutic. That complete course of was extremely therapeutic. Thanks for reminding me of that.
So, who did you play the album for first – from begin to end – and what was their response?
Bre Kennedy: You already know what’s humorous? I really haven’t performed it throughout for anybody but. However I in all probability will for my greatest buddy. She’s one in every of my co-creators on this file – she’s doing all of the art work and content material. She’s additionally my roommate and has seen me develop by means of all of it. She’s the one who actually pushed me to be courageous and share this message.
What’s going by means of your thoughts whenever you’re about to launch an album? Is it aid, pleasure, or one thing else?
Bre Kennedy: “Child Blue” and “Fool” are two songs I’ve launched up to now. “Child Blue” felt actually thrilling – it was enjoyable, the video was stunning, and it featured so many necessary folks and ladies in my life. It felt like a celebration.
With “Fool,” I used to be scared. I care deeply about folks, and I didn’t wish to damage anybody’s emotions. That was exhausting for me.
However when this full album comes out, I believe I’ll simply really feel deep aid, like I’m lastly letting go of one thing that was actually therapeutic to make.
You’ve talked lots about development all through the method. Considering again to the particular person you have been whenever you began scripting this album, how have you ever modified?
Bre Kennedy: I’ve been reflecting on that lots. I believe I’m softer now. Kinder to myself. And I’m pleased with that.
Once I get all of it out on paper, I take a look at it and suppose, “Wow, that was lots you simply walked by means of.” I let myself be flirty, I let one other facet of me out, and I used to be courageous sufficient to strive issues. Generally after I hear again to the songs, it appears like future me was talking to me by means of them, like she already knew one thing I didn’t.
Proper now, I really feel like I’ve caught up with the one who was writing these songs. I used to be in such a inventive, open-hearted place again then as a result of I allowed myself to be damaged and gave myself grace in that.
As I put this file out into the world, I can really feel that little voice – the gremlin – saying, “You’ve received to do that proper. You’ve received to manage every part.” And this album is reminding me that’s not the place the magic is.
So proper now, I really feel like a willow tree: Grounded, smart, bending with the wind. I really feel each seasoned and nonetheless rising. I nonetheless have work to do, and I’m grateful this album jogs my memory of that.
When listeners hear this album from begin to end, what’s the one factor you need them to remove? Is there a sense or lesson?
Bre Kennedy: That they have already got every part they want. Even the damaged elements – the issues of their life that really feel fully out of their management – these can change into the fabric for transformation. Take these damaged items and write down your story. That’s the place the alchemy occurs.
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:: stream/buy Willow right here ::
:: pre-save The Alchemist right here ::
:: join with Bre Kennedy right here ::
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Stream: “Willow” – Bre Kennedy
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