Kat Luna isn’t throwing stones at her ex—she’s just telling her story.
Luna, whom country music fans first met on American Idol, released her debut EP, That Girl, on March 7. She worked on the project for two years. But now that it’s here, she held nothing back.
“I’m excited for all the new stuff that I’m recording now, but also for the older songs that are my healing journey,” she said. “I had to go through that to get here.”
Luna doesn’t detail her heartbreak but said she put her entire heart and soul into the eight-song EP, which starts with a Spanglish version of “I Don’t.” The song begins with Luna describing her wedding while questioning her choice and soon changing her mind.
Videos by American Songwriter
Lyrics include: First kiss, first time| First house, first fight| We said some vows
The hook is, “I said, ‘I do’ | But I don’t
“I feel like everything’s in there if they really wanna know what actually happened,” Luna said. “They just get to hear it from my healing process.”
Kat Luna: This Is My Human Journey
Luna married her former duet partner in early 2021. She was 21 years old.
“This whole EP is literally a time stamp of my human journey song-by-song,” she said. “And it’s in order.”
In “Left Right,” Luna shares her surprise when her new husband becomes more distant and wonders how she didn’t anticipate it. She sings, “Maybe I wouldn’t be losin’ my mind if you’da just left right.”
She sings about her husband coming back to her but turning him away in “That Girl.” “Young Again” is about getting married too young but regaining the freedom she gave up for marriage. “Happiest I’ve Ever Been” talks about how Luna struggled to mend herself and her heart. Now she’s met someone new and is the happiest she’s ever been.
Kat Luna Feels ‘Freaking’ Empowered
“I wrote the EP because I wanted people to feel a sense of community and safety and being understood and know that it always gets better,” Luna said.
Nathan Chapman produced the project, and Luna co-wrote every song.
The EP comes five years after Luna moved to Nashville from Florida and signed a record deal with Sony Music Nashville. Since then, her life and career have evolved to allow her to be the most authentic version of herself. Luna, a church worship leader, describes herself as a country singer with Latin and soul influences. She’s also grown up.
“Little Kat didn’t know what she wanted and was just terrified,” she said. “I’m grateful because now I just know what I want, what I don’t want. I’m grateful for everything. It’s really freaking empowering. I took my power back, and I want other girls to know if they feel trapped or they feel unhappy or they feel like they’re getting just not the love that they deserve, to just choose yourself, choose to learn and love yourself, and the right person will come into your life. I’m a testament to that.”
That Girl tracklist
- I Don’t (Spanglish Version) – Kat Luna, Emma Kleinberg, Robyn Dell Unto, Erika Ender
- Left Right (Spanglish Version) – Kat Luna, Cole Miracle, Austin Taylor Smith, Erika Ender
- That Girl (Spanglish Version) – Kat Luna, Rhett Akins, KK Johnson, Erika Ender
- Young Again – Kat Luna, Ben Goldsmith, Lauren McLamb
- Happiest I’ve Ever Been (Spanglish Version) – Kat Luna, Josh Kerr, Peytan Porter, Erika Ender
- Tú No (I Don’t Spanish – Version) [Bonus track] – Kat Luna, Emma Kleinberg, Robyn Dell Unto, Erika Ender
- Left Right (Bonus Track) – Kat Luna, Cole Miracle, Austin Taylor Smith
- I Don’t (Bonus Track) – Kat Luna, Emma Kleinberg, Robyn Dell Unto
(photo by Matthew Berinato)
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