Inside Alana Springsteen's album-Listening party for 'I Hope This Helps'
Nikki Blackburn
March 22nd 2026
Day 1 of C2C Festival is always an exciting day for me; I know it’s gonna be the start of an amazing three days of country music, community and just good vibes. This year was extra special because I also knew I was going to be attending Alana Springsteen’s album listening party for her upcoming sophomore album, I Hope This Helps (out May 29th).
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Now anyone who knows me, knows I love Alana; her music and her artistry has moved me, inspired me and gotten me through tough times in more ways than I’ve ever even admitted to her, so the opportunity to hear some songs I hadn’t heard before as well as hear the studio versions of some songs that I had, all the while in a conversational setting with Alana was an exciting one.
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I interviewed Alana during CMA Fest last summer, and we chatted about her debut album, Twenty Something, and the process of following it up, and the passion with which she spoke about it was exciting. “What fires me up is talking about the hard stuff; talking about stuff that I’m scared to talk about because somewhere deep down I know that if I’m feeling it, somebody else out there feels it too, and they need to hear it. This next chapter is all of that growth, all of that healing, all of that change I’ve experienced kind of boiled down into songs.”
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And talk about the hard stuff, she certainly does on this record. “I learned so much about myself writing Twenty Something,” she explained, “but over the past couple of years I’ve realized it was truly just the tip of the iceberg… I just took on this role of taking care of everybody else; not knowing how to express my own needs, not knowing how to process my emotions and all of that came back around to bite me over the last couple of years and I honestly hit a breaking point where my body was just throwing up all of these red flags – I would come off the road and pass out, I ended up in the hospital, so many health issues started popping up and that was a sign that there was more work I needed to do, so that’s when I started going to therapy and doing all of the really hard work to heal.
This album – these songs that you’re about to hear – have been my roadmap through all of it. They kind of served as a mirror and helped me understand myself, process what I was going through and I’m so grateful to these songs.”
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I voice-noted the session not because I necessarily planned to write about it – although there is always a decent chance of that - but more so because I knew I was about to hear music that would really matter to me, and that I would need more time to process it than the hour allotted, which did fly by, and I’m really glad I did because as you will see if you keep reading, the way Alana speaks about this record and the process of creating it is just as important and inspiring and beautiful as the record itself. There’s thirteen songs, plus an intro, interlude and outro, and there’s no filler here; not one song is replaceable, indulgent or lazy. Each one is another step in a journey that’s clearly seen Alana reach her lowest points before doing the work and finding the strength to build herself back up to a place of even greater empowerment. She’s titled the record ‘I Hope This Helps,’ and having heard what I heard, there’s no doubt that it will, and it'll help a lot of people at that…
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The lead single, 'Note to Self,' was already released by this point. Alana said, “it kicks off the record; we started off going really deep, but it pretty much sets up my whole story. It’s the most autobiographical song I’ve ever written.”
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Feels Good
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Feels Good is the first song Alana played, which she included in her August 2024 Tiny Desk set. She said it was one of the first songs written for the record, and elaborated that “it was the first time I sat down with the darkest parts of my heart; the parts that scared me, the things I was ashamed of and sat with it long enough to understand it…even the parts that are messy.”
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The song opens with: last night I was two more shots away, from trying to talk my way into heavens gates. Some regrets taste better at the bar, Mama says I always go too far.
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Hell of a way to open a song, right?
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Feels Good is track three on the record, right after the Intro and Note to Self, so immediately you know you’re not just listening to music that sounds good but is ultimately disposable; you’re listening to music that matters and that is going to matter to a lot of people when it’s released. Production-wise, it’s definitely darker and grittier than anything Alana’s released up to this point; she’s digging into her lower register and exploring a different part of her voice, but despite the heavier nature of the lyric, the song’s a vibe and melodically it’s got a beat that’s gonna stick with you. It’s probably the song I’m most excited to see how she incorporates it into her upcoming headline tour.
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Sad Hour
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Sad Hour was one of the two new songs Alana played at the Riverfront Stage during CMA Fest last summer, and it’s one I loved immediately because it’s a real fun, upbeat, two-steppin’ melody that’s woven around lyrics about going through a shit time and I love the juxtaposition of that. It’s got a hook that will stay with you and lines like ‘cause when it rains, I pour,’ are exactly the kind of clever wordplay that I love about country music.
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Speaking of Sad Hour, Alana said: “for a lot of my life, I was just really kind of numb in general, and I realized that it’s okay to cry. It’s okay to feel the feelings … and when you can be vulnerable enough to let people in, it makes it so much easier. If you’re gonna be sad, you may as well be sad together, and have a drink while you’re doing it.”
Same God
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This is the second new song Alana played at CMA Fest, and it’s the one that hit the hardest in that set. The Riverfront Stage was the first time I ever heard it and my immediate thought was, 'this is Amen Part II.' Where ‘Amen’ speaks of making the decision to live life unapologetically on your own terms, ‘Same God’ unpacks the friction that can arise when the choices you make don’t line up with the ones your loved ones would prefer you to make.
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Alana said: “This is one of my favourites on the record. Writing this one really terrified me in a lot of ways because it touched on some heavy subjects for me, stuff that I was really wrestling with, and I put it smack dab in the middle of the record because it really was a turning point for me. From going from this really insecure place, feeling broken, feeling a little lost to starting to own my power, own my journey and stand up for myself and my choices… and ultimately, this song – this album – is a rejection of fear. In the faith I grew up in, there was so much fear, so much shame and so much guilt and this is kind of a call to embrace openness and acceptance and love.”
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It does feel like a turning point, not just for Alana in writing it, but in the record itself because from this point onwards, you really can start to hear and feel the confidence she’s now found in herself in the lyrics.
DIY
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“I wrote this about realising that nobody; no matter how perfect they are, no matter how right for you they are, is gonna be able to make up for the love that you’re withholding from yourself. I look back on past relationships and pictures of me then and I just wanna give myself a hug. I remember how desperately I wanted to be loved and feel validated and how I was looking for it in all the wrong places. This song is about taking back that power and choosing to love yourself first."
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There’s a line in this that really stood out to me: ‘now I really know me, anyone who holds me’s really gotta make me melt, ‘cause I can be my only so don’t be bringing water to the well.’ I love that confidence of being secure enough in yourself to say if you’re not gonna bring something that adds value here, don’t even bother. It feels like a moment of triumph at this point of the record.
As is the ending of the song, there’s a super empowering bridge (‘if he’s just making you cry, then he can go to Hell, girl you got nothing but time’) that runs into a soaring vocal of the chorus to close the song out on a real high. I really love this song.
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I Loved You Then
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Alana said, “I was sitting on this idea for months, and sometimes that happens where the idea just feels so personal and I have such a specific vision for it, that it takes me a while to feel like the room is right, like it’s the right vibe to write the song. It’s crazy that doing all this work, all this healing hasn’t just changed my life but also my relationships; I’m currently in a relationship and it’s the happiest I’ve ever been, the healthiest I’ve ever been.”
The song paints a vivid picture of a friendship turning into something deeper and looking back on earlier, private moments of connection and understanding that your heart already knew then what you weren’t yet ready to admit out loud. It’s a beautiful song that builds to another soaring crescendo (and another bridge that slaps).
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Black Sheep
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Alana said, “this is also towards the end of the record because it’s one of the first songs I wrote truly owning everything about me – my whole life I’ve been called the Black Sheep of the family, and for a while that really bothered me. I hated being the odd one out, hated being ostracised. I think when you’re growing up, you want so badly to fit in and not to be different, but if I could go back, I’d tell that younger version of me to lean into the things that make her different… so if you’re the Black Sheep, own that shit! Honestly now I see it more as a compliment – we’re the cycle-breakers, the ones who don’t fit the mould, makes waves, stand up for what we believe in, and I think that’s badass.”
How to Swim
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This is the last song on the record. Alana said, “I had this recurring dream while I was making this record; I was in a room full of all these doors and it was kind of representing my head and my heart. I opened this door and it’s like the entire ocean was behind it and it came flooding in, and it’s that moment of panic realising I can’t put this back. There’s no way to go back to the way it was before, so either I let this drown me or I learn how to swim. And that’s what writing this record felt like; it felt like a moment of accepting I can’t go back to who I was before – now I know what I know, I can’t just go back to what felt comfortable - the only choice I have is to fight my way through; to keep doing the work, keep healing, hope that I get to the other side and with this song, I wanted to end on a hopeful note because it’s hard and it’s scary, but there’s so much waiting for you on the other side of that healing if you just keep going. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been, the most fulfilled I’ve ever been and I’m just so proud of this record, and that version of you that’s healed is worth fighting for."
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I spoke with Alana and her manager, Basak, afterwards and both independently asked which songs landed for me and I can’t remember exactly what I said – it probably wasn't super eloquent in the moment - I know I picked out Same God and I Loved You Then because those were the two moments where I kinda choked up. Same God because even though I’d heard it before, the production landed so much harder than I expected it to, possibly due to the inclusion of a voicemail from her grandad, but I think more so because of all the songs I heard that follow it on the record and more fully understanding the journey of how far Alana’s come since that turning point. And to further that, also I Loved You Then because hearing that song really just made me feel happy for Alana to hear how’s she’s come out the other side and how much she deserves this place of contentment and fulfilment she’s in now.
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One thought that's struck me this past week as I've been reflecting on this record, is that the two songs of Alana's that have elicited the most emotional reactions in me are Amen and Same God, which is surprising to me because I'm not someone of faith, and in fact consider myself an atheist, and more often than not, anytime an artist invokes religious connotations in music, it doesn't draw me in. Yet both of these songs have done in big ways and that's such a testament to Alana's writing and the strength of it and to who she is as an artist and a person. Amen in particular is a song I owe a lot to and means so much to me. Same God also is relatable to me, though not necessarily from the perspective of religious faith, and I think that continuation almost of Amen and of having the strength to stand by your choices, even when it causes problems for you, is what lands the hardest with me. All that to say, it's why I truly believe that Alana is the future of country music, and have done since Twenty Something and now even more so with I Hope This Helps because she isn't just making music to be playlisted - though it undoubtedly will be, a lot - but she's making music that really f**king matters and that means something in a landscape where too few artists are truly doing that, or at least doing it consistently. I Hope This Helps isn't just a collection of songs for playlists; it's a raw and real, and it's a journey that she's lived and that other people are living and are going to take so much comfort in and inspiration from.
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The other thing that’s stayed with me as much as the music itself over this last week, is just the way Alana speaks so candidly about her journey with therapy, with doing the work to pull herself apart to put herself back together even stronger. When I was growing up, there was such a stigma around the idea of therapy and asking for help or admitting that everything wasn’t perfect. I can’t help but think if there’d been somebody I related to when I was a teenager who spoke so eloquently about it as Alana is now, then maybe I’d have found my way to it sooner than I did? So I think she isn’t just going to help people with the music itself, she’s also going to help people by just being so authentically herself and by being brave enough to shout out the fact that showing vulnerability and talking about your feelings even when they’re messy isn’t a weakness at all, but the biggest superpower.
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‘I Hope This Helps’ will release May 29th via Santa Anna Nashville. Pre-save here.
‘Note to Self’ and ‘Black Sheep’ are out now.
Alana has announced ALANA SPRINGSTEEN: LIVE IN EUROPE, a headline summer tour of the UK and Europe, including stops in major cities like London, Manchester, Glasgow, and Belfast. Kicking off on July 3 at Huercasa Country Festival in Riaza, Spain, the tour will wrap up with a two-night stand at Norsk Countrytreff (a Country music festival in Breim, Norway) on July 10 and 11. Tickets for Huercasa and Norsk Countrytreff are on sale now, and fans can sign up to access the UK tour pre-sale here.
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Speaking of the tour, Alana said: “We’ve announced the UK and European tour, I’m so excited to be coming back and doing headline shows and playing these songs live. I live for those moments of connection with you guys. Live shows are my favourite thing ever.”
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Pre-sale begins March 23 at 10am GMT; and general on-sale begins March 25 at 10am GMT. See below for the full UK/Europe itinerary:
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ALANA SPRINGSTEEN: LIVE IN EUROPE
July 3 | Riaza, Spain - Huercasa Country Festival
July 5 | Glasgow, UK - Òran Mór
July 6 | Manchester, UK - Academy 2
July 7 | London, UK - Islington Assembly Hall
July 8 | Belfast, UK - Limelight 2
July 10 | Breim, Norway - Norsk Countrytreff
July 11 | Breim, Norway - Norsk Countrytreff
Keep up with Alana's socials here:
