Chart topping musician, vocalist and songwriter Lindsay Ell has announced her highly anticipated sophomore album heart theory, out August 14th 2020 via BMG/BBR Music Group. Lindsay premiered new single “wAnt me back”, which was co-written with Kane Brown, Matt McGinn & Lindsay Rimes, on BBC Radio 2 last night (25/6). Pre-save, add and order heart theory on digital platforms HERE, and check out the visualizer for the single:

With fans worldwide clamouring for new music from her – heart theory marks Ell’s first new original album in three years following tour dates across the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the UK and Europe – she captivated them with a digital scavenger hunt this week, teasing the big news across social platforms before revealing album details on TikTok.

heart theory is an incredibly personal concept album comprised of 12 tracks that journey through each stage of grief: shock, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, testing, and acceptance. Ell co-wrote 11 of the songs, enlisting help from acclaimed writers & artists including Tyler Hubbard of Florida Georgia Line and Brandy Clark among others on the project.

While heart theory stemmed from Ell’s personal experience, its arc serves as a source of solace for the universal process of experiencing any type of hardship. “If theory is the science of music, heart theory is the science of a heart,” Ell says of the record. “I hope this roadmap can be a comfort if you need it, reassurance when you need to remember to believe in yourself or maybe just a glimpse into a memory that’s made you who you are.”

The concept of heart theory extends to every aspect of the album – its cover art features the spectrum of corresponding colors to each stage, mirroring the music’s movement itself from dark to light, while its tracklist subtly reveals the album title through use of seemingly random capitalization.

Due to quarantine, Ell completed heart theorywith multiple GRAMMY-nominatedlegendary producer Dann Huff (Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum, Keith Urban) from a distance and two different locations. Ell takes the unique challenge posed by the pandemic to almost every element of album completion in stride: “If my last record was called The Project, this could be called The Process.” The Project – Ell’s first full-length album – debuted at No. 1 on the Country Album Sales Chart and was named Billboard’s Best Country Album of 2017.

Ell will co-host CMA Summer Stay-Cay special on July 1st with BBR Music Group label mate Jimmie Allen. She recently marked her first No. 1 at U.S. Country radio with her Brantley Gilbert duet “What Happens In A Small Town.” Ell has amassed more than 123 million on demand streams to date and is currently nominated for two 2020 ACM awards – New Female Artist of the Year & Vocal Event of the Year.

heart theory track listing (with writers)

a journey through the seven stages of grief

shock

1. “Hits me” (Lindsay Ell, Tyler Hubbard, Corey Crowder)

denial

2. “how good” (Lindsay Ell, Brandy Clark)
3. “i don’t lovE you” (Adam Hambrick, Melissa Fuller, Neil Medley)

anger

4. “wAnt me back” (Lindsay Ell, Kane Brown, Matt McGinn, Lindsay Rimes)
5. “get oveR you” (Lindsay Ell, Gordie Sampson, Kelly Archer)
6. “wrong girl” (Lindsay Ell, Steph Jones, Matt McGinn, Luke Niccoli)

bargaining

7. “body language of a breakup” (Lindsay Ell, Laura Veltz, Sam Ellis)

depression

8. “good on you” (Lindsay Ell, Sam Ellis, Micah Premnath)

testing

9. “The oTHEr side” (Lindsay Ell, Jessie Jo Dillon, Matt McGinn)
10. “gO to” (Lindsay Ell, Nicolle Gaylon, Jordan Reynolds)

acceptance

11. “make you” (Lindsay Ell, Brandy Clark)
12. “ReadY to love” (Lindsay Ell, Jessie Jo Dillon, Matt McGinn, Joey Hyde)