LECADE is steadily building a catalog of self-reflective songs that speak to sadness, loss and often an admission of guilt for the situation he’s in, and country music fans around the world are absolutely loving it.
The budding artist, whose early beginnings consisted of creating music in his bedroom by buying beats from YouTube creators and writing lyrics over them to post on social media, now has over 200K followers on TikTok, a record deal with Big Machine Records, and more than 3 million monthly listeners plus over 100 million streams to date. And it’s all thanks to making perfect pop-country tunes with just enough hip-hop style over relatable lyrics detailing people’s hardships living in the South.
“It’s really kind of like emo country, like grunge country,” LECADE tells Celeb Secrets host Juliet Schroder of his sound backstage during CMA Fest 2024 in Nashville earlier this summer.
“I’m really inspired by Koe Wetzel and a couple of guys I met here that are kind of doing the same thing. I came up here for the first time probably about two years ago. and I’ve been living here for a year, and I met some guys that were kind of doing the same thing. It just really worked for me. And it’s true to me.”
Revealing that he grew up in small towns with heavy alcoholism and drug use, LECADE says that singing about “the realness of broke down southern America” has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from fans, as most people that he’s spoken to after releasing music “have been in that position one point or another.”
“My sound is still Texas country, but I like to put the hip-hop thing behind it, which I kind of get from [Morgan] Wallen. It’s the Texas thing vocally with the lyrics and stuff, but songs with little pop beats sonically.”
On Friday (July 26), LECADE added more to his “grunge country” catalogue by releasing his new single “Glass” on all music streaming platforms. Continuing to share sounds of heartbreak as its plot follows someone who turns to the bottle to try and numb the lingering sting of a breakup, the song takes a turn by offering a more pop-infused and upbeat sound. Written by Beau Bailey, Dylan Guthro and Jenn Schott and LECADE’s frequent collaborator Austin Shawn, “Glass” is an irresistibly catchy breakup anthem made for summertime windows-down singalongs.
“When I heard ‘Glass’ for the first time, I knew it was a song that I needed to record,” shares LECADE in a press release. “I’ve been there before, hurt and grasping for anything and everything that might distract me from looking that pain straight in the face. I hope ‘Glass’ makes people who might relate feel seen while also giving them a fun soundtrack to the summer that – unlike the painful memories I’m singing about – they’ll want to play again and again.”
Promising that there’s more music on the way — as he told Celeb Secrets he has about 95 songs already written — LECADE will continue to do what he does best when it comes to new releases.
“I don’t have to make any more music,” he laughs. “But I write every day so they just kind of stack up. If we’re lucky, maybe somebody else might put one of my songs out, so we’re just going to keep writing every day and just try to beat what we have.”
As to when it’s coming? “Pretty quickly,” he teases.
“The generation we live in with like TikTok and Reels and Shorts… everybody’s attention spans really short,” he continues. “You can’t really keep anybody’s attention for long if you’re not consistently putting out good music, so that’s the plan. We’ll consistently put out the best music we can over the course of this year.”
For more on LECADE’s music, make sure to watch our full interview from CMA Fest 2024 below, and don’t forget to let us know what you think of “GLASS” by either leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sliding into our DMs on Instagram at @celebsecretscountry.
LISTEN TO “GLASS” HERE:
For more coverage from CMA Fest 2024, click here. For more Country news, visit CelebSecretsCountry.com.
