Rosegold by Ashley Monroe

It’s not uncommon for seasoned artists to explore new sounds, but for Ashley Monroe, that exploration meant a complete dismantling of what she’d so far accomplished on her first four solo albums and three collaborative albums with the trio Pistol Annies. Her fifth album doesn’t eschew Monroe’s country roots so much as it looks right past them, allowing Monroe to incorporate the full spectrum of her musical influences, which include hip-hop and R&B, in ways she never has before. “I hope that people feel joy from it,” Monroe says of the album. “I hope that it takes them out of anything that they might be feeling other than joy and put them in a place of happiness.” Below, Monroe walks us through several of Rosegold’s key tracks.

Tracklist