Monica Is Releasing a Country Album With Brandi Carlile
The rest of 2024 is jam-packed for Monica. The R&B legend is preparing to share her first full-length album since Code Red arrived nearly a decade ago. To make up for lost time, Monica has scheduled the release of not one but two albums before the end of the year — and one of them takes a swerve into the country lane.
One of the singer’s upcoming projects will be a country record titled Open Roads, Variety reports. The album will be executive produced by Americana musician Brandi Carlille, who has previously helmed releases from Joni Mitchell, Tanya Tucker, Brandy Clark, Lucius, and more. “I realized there are no limitations to what we can do and Brandi Carlile told me, ‘Monica, stop waiting and I will help you,'” she told Entertainment Tonight in 2022. “Since then we have been working nonstop.”
Monica first teased Open Roads that year and confirmed that it was completed in 2023. Last year, during a live performance, she explained that the delay is a simple product of the fact that “life just keeps life-ing.” But Open Roads is finished, as is her forthcoming R&B record MDA. That project in particular was previously titled Trenches.
Monica has set the release of both records as she reunites with WME, the talent agency she began her career with nearly three decades ago. “I’m truly excited about this full circle moment to reconnect with WME since that’s where it all started for me with my debut album, ‘Miss Thang!,’” the musician shared in a statement. “I’m grateful, humbled and immeasurably thrilled about the possibilities of this reunion!”
The reunion has come at a more than opportune time. In addition to her forthcoming releases, Monica has recently been put under the spotlight of releases from both Halsey and Ariana Grande, which reference pivotal songs from her catalog.
Grande’s “The Boy Is Mine,” from Eternal Sunshine, began as an homage to Monica and Brandy. Then, a remix of the record that arrived earlier this summer, brought the nod full circle with featured appearances from both artists. Just last month, Halsey released “Lucky,” which most prominently references Britney Spears’ single of the same name, but also interpolates Monica’s chart-topping rendition of “Angel of Mine.”