Since she broke onto the scene with her debut single ‘More Hearts Than Mine’ in 2019, Ingrid Andress has been carving out a path for herself as one to watch in country music.
Her songwriting skills and raw, honest lyrics saw her receive two Grammy nominations for her debut album, ‘Lady Like’, and she’s toured with the likes of Keith Urban and Dan + Shay. Now she’s back with the follow-up, ‘Good Person’, which sees her delving even deeper.
I recently spoke to Ingrid about the new record, her latest single ‘Blue’, collaborating with Sam Hunt on ‘Wishful Drinking’, being back out on the road and more including
Last time we spoke you were just about to release ‘Lady Like’ – what’s been happening for you since then? Apart from the obvious…
[laughs] Just a global pandemic, yeah. That was wild. It’s every new artist’s nightmare to release your debut album at the beginning of when the world shuts down. But if that hadn’t happened, this second album wouldn’t exist, because I would be promoting it. I wouldn’t have time to be introspective. So I’m kind of torn on if it really was a bad thing or not. Because to me, this second album really captures those two years of my life that were really important. And there will be moments that I captured on this new album that I will always look back on and know that that’s where I was at in my life. So it all worked out somehow, the way it always does. And I think the second album would be entirely different if I didn’t have the time to write it.
One thing I’ve noticed with listening to the album is there’s a real storytelling thread and a structure that goes through it – it very much feels like a journey. Was that something you consciously wanted to do when you were making it or did it just evolve that way?
I think the order in which you listen to songs tells a story in and of itself. And as a storyteller, I felt like it would do the songs a disservice to not put them in the order in which they were written. Because without even having to explain it, it’s like, here’s the process of how this all went down. So starting with ‘Good Person’ and ‘Yearbook’ when I was being really introspective and observing things. And then after being introspective, I was like, “Oh, I’m gonna look at my relationship now, and see if I’m happy”. I wasn’t happy. And I was like, “Okay, I deserve better than this”. And then ‘Pain’ was sort of the pivot point into a much happier chapter of my life.
So even though people don’t really listen to albums from the top down any more, I still do. And I know that it’s hard to find good albums to do that. But I’m hoping that this can be added to people’s lists of vinyl where they can just put it on and they don’t want to skip any songs.
Definitely. I’ve had the privilege to listen to it already and it’s great – no skips from me!
[laughs] Woohoo! Mission accomplished!
You’ve mentioned the pandemic giving you a lot more time to write. Did you feel that your songwriting and how you approached your music evolved on this project compared to making ‘Lady Like’?
Yes. That is always the goal. I am under no impression that I have mastered songwriting. I think it’s a forever journey that you’re on. And I do think I grew up a lot in this album, and definitely wrote with different people to help expand how my mind works. But at the end of the day, I still write very personally. I just think I dove deeper than what I have before, which is scary, to be more vulnerable. But I think it actually helps the songs get better the more honest you are in the writing.
Were there any songs that you found either particularly easy or particularly challenging to write for this record?
Most of them weren’t difficult to write. Most of them kind of came really naturally. It was the producing process that I’m very heavily involved in. That is super fun, but it’s also a different part of your brain that you’re using creatively, so you’re like, “is this right? Is this right for the song?” So, certain days were easy. Certain days, I turned into like a mad scientist and wasn’t sure if any of my music was good or not. So you just go back and forth of like, “I hate this song”. And then two days later, you’re like, “oh, that’s actually pretty good”. So it’s a classic tortured soul situation.
Did you feel that there was more pressure on you with this album with ‘Lady Like’ having been such a big success? Or did it feel more like you could let go and be like, “I can do what I want”?
Yeah, I definitely let go more. Just because I so much view albums as chapters in my life. And I’m never comparing the chapters because it’s like, well, it was already written, it has happened. Like, yes, I’m always trying to get better as in my craft, but I’m never like, “Oh, I gotta beat my first album”. I’m like, “Nope, I don’t have to beat it. I just gotta be real with where I’m at in the second one”. So I think I’ve learned from observing other artists who like get too much in their head for their sophomore album. I’m seeing them kind of spiral out and I’m like, “I don’t ever want to do that”. I want to respect all the art that I do for the time in which I did it.
But I definitely think sonically production wise, I did not put as many boundaries up for myself as maybe I did in the first album. I sort of was just like, “you know what, there’s a global pandemic outside, I’m going to put a banjo with a vocoder”. Like, that’s where we’re at right now. Who cares? Why not? Nothing matters. Let’s just go for it [laughs].
I also wanted to ask you about ‘Blue’ which is your latest release from the album. Can you tell us a bit more about that song?
Unknown Speaker 7:13
Exactly. I did also want to ask you about, like, because I know you’ve mentioned a couple of songs already. But the one I want to particularly ask you about was blue, which I think you’re putting out on Friday with the visualizer as well. So can you tell us a little bit more about that song in particular?
Yes! So I’ve been playing that song live for a couple of years. And I’m so excited that it’s finally coming out because I’m so proud of that one. And it was actually inspired by watching videos of children or people who are colour-blind seeing colour for the first time. Because that is so powerful. I mean, you can’t watch it without just like sobbing. It’s just such a little simple thing that we all just take for granted. So I really wanted to capture that sentiment and obviously turned it into a love song. But there’s just something so powerful in that sentence. Everyone’s like, “Oh, yeah, blue. We see it all the time.” But then there’s that thing where you’re like, “Oh, I’ve not ever viewed it this way before”. And that is such like a crazy feeling for me. So, yeah. Plus, it just felt like a poem. Yeah, I love that one.
I also wanted to ask you about ‘Wishful Drinking’, your collaboration with Sam Hunt. How did that come about and what was it like working with him?
Yes! So yeah, that came about pretty easily. I wrote it and I’m very headstrong. And I was like, “I only hear Sam Hunt on this with me. And if he can’t do it, then I’m not going to ask anybody else because nobody else would make sense.” And my team was just like, “Are you sure? We should have a backup. He doesn’t really do duets with girls” – all this stuff. And then he was like, “Oh, yeah, I love the song, let’s do it.” So it just worked out really naturally.
We had met each other at a kickball game. So we’re like, “oh, we’re practically homies.” It’s good. So he had he added a lot to it with. I was already such a huge fan of him as an artist, being so specific and having such a swaggy tone. I was like, “That’s what I need on this song. So hopefully you like it!” And here we are.
You’re also currently out on tour with Keith Urban at the moment. How are you kind of finding being back on the road and playing live again?
Well, I’m still learning because I really didn’t get to do a tonne of that pre pandemic. I mean, I did the Dan + Shay tour last year, which was really fun. But this is a really long, big tour. And I just feel like I’m finally starting to find my thing when I play live. You know, Keith has his thing. And I’m like, “Well, what’s my thing?” So it’s been really fun to experiment and see people and see my fans that I haven’t gotten to see in forever. And I’m just learning so much from him as a performer. Honestly, he’s just so delightful.
What is the rest of the year looking like for you? Are the album and touring with Keith the big focuses for you at the moment?
They are, yes. The Keith tour goes until November. But we are already planning for next year to get back over there. Because I owe you guys a tour. And I basically really just want to be playing this album as much as I can almost to make up for the time before where I didn’t get to play my album. So as somebody who has been starved of live performances, I just want to know what that feels like, to just be on the road for a while. Just because I feel like I’m pretty up to date with where I’m at in my life. The album sort of ends with like where I am currently, so if anything, I probably just want to start writing about everything we’re probably going through as a world right now. So maybe that’ll be my next album, just talking about the real shit.
Are there any songs that you’re particularly looking forward to playing live while you’re out on the road?
I mean, definitely all of it, but ‘Feel Like This’ really slaps live. It is so dope. And every time mu band and I play, we all just are grinning from ear to ear and jumping around. It’s just so fun to play. It’s very opposite of having an entire set of sad songs, I will say that.
And then the last thing I wanted to ask you about was when you were over in London a few weeks ago, you mentioned that you were going for afternoon tea – so yeah, how was that?
It was so good. I think it was probably my favourite to date. The tower of pastries, so good. I already miss it. I’m like, “I need to go to tea time every day.” But then I realised that everyone’s like, “those are for special occasions”. I’m like, “okay, got it”. So you can’t do tea time every day. But then there’s always something to celebrate. Yes, no, it was so delicious. I ate like the entire tower. I’m not even joking you. I wish I was but they were all gone.
Ingrid Andress’ new album, ‘Good Person’, is out on 26th August on Warner Music Nashville.
