Today (May 2), Esther Rose released Want, her fifth studio album and the follow-up to her critically acclaimed 2023 full-length Safe to Run. The album comes after Rose made some major life changes and considered walking away from her music career. The result is an album full of resilience that sees the singer/songwriter at her boldest and most authentic.
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Ahead of the release of Want, Rose sat down with American Songwriter to discuss her new album. During the conversation, she talked about how her life changed going into the album, what made her keep going, and more.
[RELATED: Esther Rose Introduces Her Bold New Album ‘Want’ with Lead Single “New Bad”]
Esther Rose Quit Drinking Before Making Want
Before writing the songs for and recording Want, Esther Rose stopped drinking. She made the decision not long after writing the album highlight “Had To.” American Songwriter asked if writing the song was pivotal in making the decision.
“I think that song was just the next step in understanding and saying out loud what my relationship with alcohol is,” Rose explains. “I guess I always wanted to quit, ever since I started. It was similar to smoking cigarettes. As soon as I started, I was trying to figure out a way to quit. So, I think that writing that song was part of the process, but it took a more of a downward spiral, I think, to finally say goodbye to drinking,” she adds.
“I think that song is kind of a love song to alcohol, really,” Rose says of the track. “It’s sort of like a sweet goodbye. I’m kind of describing how alcohol would fill every need–when you’re up or when you’re down or when you’re with other people or when you’re alone. It’s pervasive.”
She Almost Walked Away from It All
After touring for her last album, Safe to Run, Esther Rose almost walked away from her music career. During our conversation, she revealed what made her decided to keep going.
“What helped me keep going was taking away alcohol. But, for me, that wasn’t the completion of the journey like, ‘Yay! I quit drinking. Now everything is fine.’ Taking away alcohol allowed me to address some deeper, lifelong struggles and basically address my life,” Rose explains. “What I realized was that creating music and sharing music is the deepest, most potent thing in my life. So, I definitely want to keep doing it. Taking away alcohol brought clarity of purpose.”
Esther Rose on Being Vulnerable in Her Songwriting
Want chronicles Esther Rose’s recovery journey. As a result, it is a deeply personal album. We asked how it felt to be so open and vulnerable when writing songs like the ones on her new album.
“It’s crazy,” Rose says, laughing. “It’s pretty weird, not going to lie,” she adds. “When I’m home writing these songs, I never imagine performing them. I’m like, I have to figure this out between me and myself. I complete the song because I want to know how it ends. Each song is a story, and I want to know the ending,” she explained.
“When I’m recording or performing, I’ve found that the more directly detailed I am specifically about my life, the more relatable the songs become. We really don’t have that different of stories, when it comes down to it, especially with big themes like addiction or recovery,” Rose explains. “There are some heavier topics on the record, but it’s all relatable. It’s all being a human and being alive,” she says of Want.
“My goal, my hope, is that when people listen to the record, they’re thinking about their own journeys. But yeah, if I play this album for my mom, she’s probably going to think about me. That’s just the artist’s journey. We have to be willing to share at the risk of whatever.”
Want Brought a New Experience
Esther Rose recorded Want at the Bomb Shelter studio in Nashville. It was the first album she recorded in a proper studio. She cut her previous albums in home studios or rehearsal spaces. During our conversation, she reflected on the experience.
“I had a lot of fear because I booked the studio time, and it was a lot more money than I’m used to paying, and I hoped we’d get it. And what if we don’t? I had to work with my mindset to reckon with doubt, know and trust in my collaborators and trust in myself that what we made together would be ‘it,’” Rose recalls. “The thing I had to work on the most–the thing I have to work on the most–is just being present for the experience. If I’m present and not future-thinking about what could go wrong, then I will make music that I believe in. That’s kind of the name of the game for all of this stuff.”
Esther Rose’s Favorite Songs on Want
“I guess I would say my favorite song on the record is the title track, ‘Want.’ Writing it was so fun. There’s a time signature shift that is really fun to play with the band. It just has a really intense arc and feeling in it,” Esther Rose says when asked about her favorite song from the new album. “There’s a lot of raw emotion captured in the live take. It’s long and wordy, and I think, for this record, I called it self-indulgent, and the songs are long. For me, that felt really different in that I’ve always been really short and to the point with two-and-a-half or three-minute songs. So, just letting them go on and be a little bit more unedited in that way felt so good,” she adds.
“I think my secret favorite song is ‘Tailspin,’ the second track on the album. That was the first song that I’ve ever co-written,” she says. “I wrote it with the producer, Ross Farbe, who also has a band called Video Age in New Orleans,” Rose says. “I’ve never worked in that classic co-write way. I would write a little fragment and send it to him, and he would bounce it back. We did that until we were at the studio and had to record it. That was really fun. I would like to do a lot more of that writing.”
Want is available today across streaming platforms via New West Records.
Featured Image by Char Klein
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