Ella Langley isn’t ready to move on from her debut album, Hungover, just yet. The country artist, who also released a deluxe version — 2024’s Still Hungover — plans to let her first collection breathe a little longer before she drops a new full-length body of work.
That’s not to say the Alabama native isn’t laying down the groundwork for her next album. In fact, she’s knee-deep in the process of doing just that, but tells Audacy’s Katie & Company she doesn’t plan to release that collection for another year.
“My next record is not going to be out until 2026,” Langley confirmed of her highly anticipated sophomore debut, reasoning that she feels like “people move on from a record so fast. They’re like, here’s a whole record of 20-something songs, and then we’re gonna give you one single off of it and then move onto the next record.”
With Hungover and its companion project, the possibility of having singles seemed endless. In fact, Langley has had success with more than one song off the record, giving fans the highly-streamed “you look like you love me” featuring Riley Green and “weren’t for the wind.” The first of the two tracks shot up to No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, and also took home the award for CMA Musical Event of the Year. “weren’t for the wind” has, meanwhile, become Langley’s first solo No. 1 smash, solidifying her place as one of the biggest female artists in the country genre. In addition to those tracks, songs like “Nicotine,” “Hungover,” and “Better Be Tough” have become fan-favorites.
Knowing that a string of tunes from her debut release have potential for radio play, Langley admitted, “I would love to try for another single off of Hungover,” before adding, “But there is new music coming out because I’m not gonna go a year and a half without putting anything out. But it’s gonna be kind of a separate little thing.”
Langley, of course, can’t give away too many details about her next project, but she did share what fans can expect as far as the type of album she plans to release when the time comes.
“This next record I’m going to put out is very much a concept piece. It’s different from what I’ve done, but it’s still me,” she said during a conversation on Country Countdown USA, where she served as co-host alongside Lon Helton. “I can’t wait to talk about it, but I can’t right now. There are so many layers to this. It’s not going to come out til next year. We may put out a single before then. It’s the coolest thing I’ve gotten to do. I’m co-producing the whole thing. I’m so excited.”
“It’s definitely taking shape and I know exactly what I want in it and how it sounds, and I just have such a clear vision on this record,” she said. “This next record, I’ve known the title for it, I actually got the title for it, it was like 100% concrete…the day we shot the music video for “You Look Like You Love Me.”
For Langley, planning out a full collection is like creating a masterpiece, and she enjoys the backend work of making a record from beginning to end. Therefore, she doesn’t want to rush the process.
“I think there’s something to be said in taking your time in making the record and taking the time to put all those pieces into place where it can last a long time,” she said. “Last in a way where fans can keep digging into it and digging into it and finding new songs that they love and finding new little pieces about the record that’s different.”
“I’m really just trying to do what feels right to me, not really paying attention to what other artists have done. Also doing that, but still keeping my blinders on in a way where it’s like, this is my art, this is how I want to put it out, this is the way that I think would be best for my artistry,” she continued. “That’s what’s so cool about the team that I have is, everyone really sees the vision with me, and they believe in it and execute it.”
Drawing comparisons between her debut album and what’s to come, Langley said, “Hungover’ felt like a little bit of me figuring it out, picking my favorite songs and then creating a concept around it. This time, I have a concept, and I’m writing towards that concept. Kind of still letting songs that need to be written come out, and I’m just kind of picking the best ones out of that. This record, I understand when people are like, I had a child, because that’s how I will feel after this record comes out because it’s all I’ve thought about every day, all day and I can’t wait.”
For now, though, fans can soak up the current project that Langley says she’s “worked so hard [on]…and my team worked so hard on that record and songs. There’s so many special songs on that one.”
Of note, Langley also hinted at the possibility that she’ll sprinkle in a few new singles throughout the year, as they did not make the cut for the concept album.
“There are some other songs that I’ve written along the way that don’t fit on this record because I do have such a clear concept musically or conceptually, so there’s a couple of them that are gonna come out,” she said. “They are definitely a different taste than what the record is, but a side of me that fans know, and I have dabbled in before, and it’s exciting.”
Last month, Ella Langley released her new single, “Never Met Anyone Like You” featuring HARDY, which will likely serve as the follow-up to “Weren’t For The Wind.”
Langley also recently extended the dates of her sold-out still hungover headlining tour, adding seven more to the bill, all which sold-out in minutes after on-sale. Additionally, she is on the road touring as part of Riley Green’s North American Damn Country Music Tour. Additionally, Langley also joined Morgan Wallen’s I’m The Problem Tour for 8 stadium shows, where she joins him onstage each night to fill-in for Tate McRae and perform “What I Want.”
