The stories that Texas singer-songwriter Bonner Rhae crafted into her upcoming album, Forward Address (April 21), took on an almost clairvoyant property as they came to fruition. “It was as if I subconsciously anticipated a future that I struggled to accept for myself,” she says.
The first single, “No Rolling Stone,” out today, comes with a few potential instructions: ”I hope you listen to it on a backroad, with the windows rolled down, she says. “Ideally, next to someone you love.”
Within a compact eight-song collection, Rhae introduces listeners to her blend of unpretentious pop country. The album is full of subtle Texas influence: “Whiskey Wishing”—Rhae’s first co-write—was penned with Jamie Lin Wilson, one of the state’s strongest songwriting exports, and Kyle Hutton, a producer on the album and one of Rhae’s mentors. The album was also co-produced with Walt Wilkins, a storied songwriting legend in the state’s music scene.
Rhae grew up in Alvin, Texas, a half-hour outside of Houston. After teaching herself to play the guitar, she learned the power of putting feelings to words and words to music, both natural steps that quickly followed.
“Looks ain’t always what they seem / On the fast track to used to be,” she sings on “Small Town Beauty Queen,” one of Forward Address‘s most-affecting tracks. It’s a story of faded ambition, full of razor-sharp character-building like, “Who needed education with a face like mine? But beauty fades and love ain’t blind.”
“Now there’s a new town and a new routine, fresh flowers by the kitchen sink, a box full of the memories,” she sings on the title track.
“Hey Girl” is an ode to college days and two-stepping; there’s also a cover of “My Feet Don’t Touch the Ground”—a song Rhae taught herself guitar on, and a Texas Country staple often found as the soundtrack to honky-tonk Saturday nights.
“Behind A Smile” reimagines a track written long ago by Matt Parrish and Justin Lofton. “This little tune was gifted to me; I was allowed to take it, change it, and make it my own,” she says. “Who hasn’t plastered on a smile and pretended that everything was fine when it was absolutely not?”
“You Had It Coming” offers Rhae’s take on what is most aptly described as a revenge song.
“I didn’t feel like I had anything out in the world that gave any real glimpse of my potential,” she says of Forward Address.
“Writing these songs and going through the process of getting them out into the world allowed me to learn more than I could have expected about myself and what I wanted for my life and emboldened me to take ownership of the direction of my path. I hope this collection of songs inspires those feelings in the hearts of its listeners.”
Photo credit: Brooke Stevens
