Today, Alana Springsteen premieres her new song “i loved you then” — a sweeping, confessional track that finds the 25-year-old singer-songwriter more unguarded than ever before. Out now via Santa Anna Nashville, the cinematic yet viscerally human track is one of the few true love songs on her forthcoming sophomore album I HOPE THIS HELPS, set for release on May 29. Listen to “i loved you then” here, and go here to pre-order/pre-save I HOPE THIS HELPS now.

Written by Springsteen, Lauren LaRue, Sara Bares, and Jared Keim, “i loved you then” revisits a period of time when Springsteen knew she’d fallen in love but couldn’t bring herself to express her feelings, held back by a deep-rooted fear of the vulnerability that comes with being fully seen. As she unearthed a number of cherished memories from that era of her life, Springsteen pieced together a love song that unfolds in panoramic detail — and ultimately echoes her newfound belief that safety lies not in hiding, but in allowing herself to be truly known.

Co-produced by Keim and Springsteen, “i loved you then” brings her layered storytelling into sharp focus, threading together fleeting moments that feel both ordinary and impossible to shake (the opening lines: “June 14th Tampa Beach / I remember you and me / Sunburnt shoulders getting closer / Barely breathing in that heat”). As the slow-building track gathers force, its hushed intensity gives way to a surge of sprawling guitar work and hard-driving drums — hitting its peak at the bridge's breathless rush of questions (“Did you get the messages I sent / Did you read between the lines / Could you see it in my eyes / Did you know me better than I did / Did it eat you up alive / Did you know the whole time”). With its radically open-hearted honesty, “i loved you then” quietly reveals the emotional work that’s enabled Springsteen to move beyond fear and boldly embrace her truth, serving as a powerful testament to the personal transformation that propelled the making of I HOPE THIS HELPS.

With all 16 songs co-produced by Springsteen (who also plays guitar and piano throughout the LP), I HOPE THIS HELPS documents her dismantling of long-held patterns of self-abandonment and confronts the weight of a fear-driven upbringing. Along with “i loved you then,” the highly awaited follow-up to her landmark debut album TWENTY SOMETHING includes the previously released “love me anyway” (an unflinching look at longing to be loved as she sheds the versions of herself she’s outgrown), “black sheep” (a windows-down anthem for following your own path without apology), and “note to self” (a soul-searching song that reckons with the pain of her early years and points her toward a brighter future).

Soon after the arrival of I HOPE THIS HELPS, Springsteen will head overseas for ALANA SPRINGSTEEN: LIVE IN EUROPE — a headline summer tour of the UK and Europe, including stops in major cities like London, Manchester, Glasgow, and Belfast. Kicking off on July 3 at Huercasa Country Festival in Riaza, Spain, the tour will wrap up with a two-night stand at Norsk Countrytreff (a Country music festival in Breim, Norway) on July 10 and 11. Go here for more info on Springsteen’s upcoming live dates.

ABOUT ALANA SPRINGSTEEN:
A fearless storyteller with an unshakable sense of self, Alana Springsteen has built her career on telling the truth, no matter how messy or hard-fought. Across high-concept projects like her three-part debut album TWENTY SOMETHING and highly awaited sophomore LP I HOPE THIS HELPS (a boldly autobiographical body of work due out May 29), the 25-year-old artist-songwriter has carved out a vital space for raw catharsis and unfiltered reflection. A multi-instrumentalist with uncompromising vision, Springsteen plays guitar and piano throughout her albums and co-produces all her material, shaping each song with a hands-on precision that underscores her identity as both author and architect. Rooted in Country but unbound by its edges, she pulls freely from Alt-Pop and beyond, building a sonic world as expansive as it is emotionally exacting. Born and raised in Pungo, Virginia (a one-of-a-kind region where farmland meets beach), Springsteen’s connection to music began in church, where she first found her voice as a child. By age seven, she was teaching herself to play guitar and writing her own songs; at ten, she began traveling to Nashville for co-writing sessions with industry heavyweights. After making her landmark debut with TWENTY SOMETHING — a 2023 release featuring her GOLD-certified smash “goodbye looks good on you (feat. Mitchell Tenpenny)” — Springsteen earned massive praise from the likes of NPR (“Few artists dissect and make sense of life in your 20s quite like Alana Springsteen”) and PEOPLE (“Everything about her says she was made for this wild, breathless — and, yes, high-risk — life of an artist”). A powerhouse live performer who commands rooms of any size, she’s now headlined her own TWENTY SOMETHING TOUR; performed at major festivals like Stagecoach; toured internationally across Europe, the U.K., and Australia; and supported superstars like Luke Bryan, LANY, Keith Urban, and NEEDTOBREATHE. With countless milestones to her name — including making her Tiny Desk debut in 2024 and scoring a No. 1 hit with “Hot Honey” (a collaboration with MULTI-PLATINUM DJ/producer Tiësto) — Springsteen’s momentum is undeniable.

 

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