Illinois native Alexandra Kay first broke through as an independent artist writing songs about her shattered heart, but on her new album, for the first time she’s writing from the perspective of a healed heart.
In 2023, Kay self-released her debut album, All I’ve Ever Known. Containing songs that chronicled a period Kay calls “a pretty traumatic time in my life” following the painful wake of her divorce, the album’s music propelled Kay to No. 12 on Billboard‘s Emerging Artists chart in 2023.
“I was able to just put myself very authentically in everyone’s face without any shield, just as real and raw as I could ever be. I just wanted to make sure that I led with that this project,” Kay says.
That grit, hustle and honesty have fueled her ascendant trajectory on her sophomore album Second Wind, out Oct. 24. She’s writing from a joyous, thriving space, both personally and professionally. The album marks her first release after signing with BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville in February and takes inspiration from her relationship with current boyfriend, musician and Kay’s longtime bandmember Rocko Beall.
“It was a very conscious decision to describe what it felt like opening my heart again to someone else,” says Kay. “I was very much living that, so I was like, ‘Let me just start writing love songs,’ which I had never done. You don’t just flip a switch and automatically you’re trusting and open to love again. I wanted to take people through that process.”
The album is a confluence of country, pop and shades of hip-hop. Songs such as “Feminine Energy,” with its nod to Christina Aguilera’s 1999 hit “What a Girl Wants,” revel in flirty, starry-eyed romance. Other tracks, such as “What He Does,” delve into a lover’s sweet, emotionally restoring gestures, while questioning why it was so hard for an ex to do the same.
She calls another song on the album, “Right Now,” her “Alexandra Wallen” moment. “It’s like with the 808s and stuff,” she says, referring to the sound Morgan Wallen has made famous that incorporates hip-hop elements. “Before when we were writing for the project, I would’ve been like ‘This doesn’t fit. But I thought the album was done, so we wrote it and the label was like ‘Yeah, this definitely needs to go on the album.’”
She adds, “I think that’s why people always overwrite their albums because the good stuff really starts to happen when you’re not itching and scratching for it. You’re just going, ‘Okay, let’s write something we think will be fun and cool.’”
Kay may be releasing just her second album, but she’s been honing her musical talents for nearly two decades, first writing songs at age 15. Her early career involved voice-over work, musical theater and commercials. She initially released hip-hop and R&B music before transitioning into country music in 2022, thanks to her viral “Coffee Covers” Facebook videos that featured Kay singing ‘90s country songs while concocting coffee recipes.
She’s taking songs from her new album on the road by headlining her Second Wind: The Tour through November, and next year will join Old Dominion for shows in Australia and New Zealand. She’s also doubling down on her “Coffee Girl” branding, having opened her own coffee shop in her home state in June.
Kay, Billboard’s Country Rookie of the Month for October, opens up about her forthcoming new album, touring with Jelly Roll, opening The Coffee Girl and more.
How did the song “Feminine Energy” come about?
We were at a writing retreat in upstate New York and I was like, “I want to write a song about how he makes me a girly girl.” I just feel safe around him. I was in the session writing “Feminine Energy” and Rocko came upstairs and ended up helping us write the rest of the song.
I had said this as soon as Rocko and I got together, I realized it was a very different relationship than the relationship I was previously in. Everybody around me saw a change in me. I was just softened. In my past relationship, I was the person that was always prepared to handle things if things went south. That’ll toughen you as a woman, just being in a relationship where you’re just waiting for the other shoe to fall. It’s exhausting.
When Rocko and I first got together, I remember my shoe was untied while I was walking through the airport. He bent down and tied my shoe, and it was something that just stuck in the back of my head. With my ex, I would’ve walked around with my shoes untied all day.
You opened shows for labelmate Jelly Roll last year. What did you learn from touring with him?
He just moves in a different way than a lot of people do. He’s got a hustle about him that is so gritty to his core, and he’s just willing to do anything he’s got to do to make stuff happen. And he’s a preacher at heart. He’s always dropping crazy knowledge, and he’s become a great friend. He remembers being the underdog, and I have very much felt like that in my career, especially accomplishing so many things as an independent artist. I didn’t get the accolades or opportunities I probably should have gotten based on the numbers I was putting up because I wasn’t signed. Jelly was like, “We’re going to take this independent girl and put her in arenas.” He changed my life.
Your song “Straight for the Heart” is going to radio next month. What has it been like gearing up to send a song to country radio?
Another thing that Jelly did for me was he let me go into all of the radio rooms, which was very generous, on his tour. He would have all these radio people come in and was like, “Go meet everybody at radio.” I’m coming into radio tours having already met many of these people and that’s huge. All I’ve Ever Known, that was very much a concept record, just me writing where I was at. Now, I think I have a lot more songs that, universally, people are liking.
You got your start making coffee videos on TikTok back in 2020. In June, you opened up a coffee shop, The Coffee Girl, in Illinois. What was that process like?
I ended up going back to the owners of a specific café, where I used to live in a loft apartment above the shop. I went to the owners and told them I wanted to open a coffee shop in my hometown, and I said, “I want your blessing because I don’t want to open anything that is in competition with your shop.” And they said, “We are talking about wanting to retire. Would you consider buying this place?” I was blown away. So, I gave them exactly what they wanted for it, and they are happily retired and still come to the shop all the time.
Does entrepreneurship run in the family?
My dad has run businesses since he was 21 years old when he opened his first dry cleaners. He ended up having five of them. He’s a smart businessman and I think we’re going to be an incredible team as we continue to open new locations.
Where do you want to open your next location?
We hope to open one in Nashville.
What is your favorite order at the shop?
We rebranded some of the items that were there and did some more extravagant coffees and foods. I always got the turkey bacon melt with chips. So, we call that the AK on the menu now. We have a Greek salad and I’m part Greek, so we called it Yaya’s Greek Salad, because that’s what I call my grandmother.
What is the first concert you ever saw?
I think it was the Backstreet Boys.
Most recent song you listened to?
“Exes” by Tate McRae. She’s such an icon.
What artists do you think are underrated right now?
Emily Ann Roberts. Her voice is insane. And Laci Kaye Booth and Mae Estes, but I have a feeling all of those girls are right on the cusp.
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