still hungover
still hungover
Album ∙ Country ∙ 2024
Hangovers aren’t just for booze. On her debut full-length album, Alabama artist Ella Langley explores the kinds of emotional aftermaths that leave behind heartache, not headaches. The record opens with its title track, a soulful and somber account of learning lessons in love the hard way. Fan favorite “nicotine” likens a lover she “want[s] but just don’t need” to the irresistible allure of a cigarette fix. Riley Green joins Langley on the hit duet “you look like you love me,” an old-school honky-tonk jam. Another standout is “paint the town blue,” a clever subversion of a country trope: Finding no solace in painting the town red in the wake of a breakup, Langley opts to “fall to pieces” (one of several classic country references on the record) and indulge her broken heart.
This still hungover deluxe edition adds a handful of new tracks from Langley, which follow acoustic takes on “cowgirl don’t cry” and “broken in.” Moody ballad “girl you’re taking home” contrasts a long-term relationship—“Bet she met your grandma, you took her to church”—with a messy situationship, using clever signifiers like “neon” bar signs and the idea of a “last call” to illustrate the tension. The acoustic track “made it out of mexico” is somber and spare, as Langley sings of a trip to paradise ending in heartache. She closes still hungover with “monologue,” a spoken-word track that seems to close this heartbroken chapter.