Cassadee Pope Will Merge Country + Pop-Punk on Her Next Album, ‘Thrive’
Cassadee Pope will bring her two very different musical sides together in her next album, Thrive, which is due out in the fall of 2021. Pope revealed her album's title during an appearance on the Kelly Clarkson Show, where she performed her single "What the Stars See" and also shared a little bit more about the full-length project with show host Kelly Clarkson.
"I'm so proud of it. During the pandemic, I did a lot of reflecting, like everybody, I'm sure. And [I'm] just kinda incorporating more of my pop-punk roots into music now. I've been always singing country music, as a kid, but pop-punk has always been a part of my journey as well," the singer explains. "I just found this sweet spot of incorporating all of it and finding that blend. I hope that people get that from the album."
In addition to her solo country career, Pope was lead vocalist and songwriter for Florida-based pop punk group Hey Monday between 2008-2011. The band is currently on hiatus.
For her performance of "What the Stars See" on the Kelly Clarkson Show, Pope enlisted her musical pal Lindsay Ell, who — along with Little Big Town's Karen Fairchild — joins her for the studio version of the song. "What the Stars See" arrived in May, and it was the first taste of new music from Pope since the release of her 2020 project, Rise and Shine.
Fairchild is a producer on Thrive, as is Nick Wheeler of rock group the All-American Rejects. Together, those two artists serve as role models from the two different lineages of Pope's career path, which she seeks to braid together on her ninth studio album.
"I wanted to name the album Thrive because that word explodes with empowerment and endurance," notes Pope in a press release. "The title track talks about not just surviving something but thriving from it, and I'm at a point in my life where I can see how the hard times were necessary. I also feel so unapologetically me in this new project, which makes me thrive in every sense of the word!"
Last Friday (July 9), Pope dropped "Say It First," her second single off her upcoming album, which she co-wrote with mainstay Nashville songwriters Heather Morgan and Ross Copperman. Thrive is due out in full in the fall of 2021.
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