When Erin Rae finished recording her 2018 record “Putting on Airs,” she realized she needed to do something completely different with her next project. As a child, the Nashville composer idolized the singer-songwriters her parents used to play for her, and she thought of music largely in terms of lyric and melody.
She used the greatest skills from the Putting on Airs sessions and refined her attention, zeroing in on what was going on in the studio, for her new album “Lighten Up.”
Rae recorded Lighten Up, her third studio album, in Los Angeles with musicians like Kevin Morby and Meg Duffy of Hand Habits, under the direction of producer Jonathan Wilson. The album shows a subtle yet noticeable transition with its swirling organ, ornate strings, and Seventies-inflected West Coast warmth.
She mused on what it means to be a “badass” woman for the album’s lead hit, “Modern Woman.”
Rae defies gender norms with conviction on “Modern Woman,” which combines delicate pedal steel with a joyful melody. Brittany Howard, Kelsey Waldon, and Michaela Anne make cameo appearances in the video for the song.
Thirty Tigers will release Lighten Up on February 4, 2022.
