MarketDandelion (album)
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Dandelion (album)

Dandelion is the second studio album by American country music singer Ella Langley. It was released through Sawgod and Columbia Records on April 10, 2026. It serves as the follow-up to her debut studio album, Hungover (2024). The album was executive produced by Langley, Miranda Lambert, and Ben West. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, making it Langley's first number-one album and the largest streaming debut for an album of new country material by a female country primary artist.

Background and composition
Langley confirmed she was back in the studio in April 2025, with a new album already in the works. Leading up to the 2025 Academy of Country Music Awards, she dealt with a harsh case of impostor syndrome. In August 2025, she canceled many shows to focus on her mental health. Langley would leave the public eye until September, "re-finding" herself. Choosing to prioritize quality over a quick follow-up, Langley pushed her second album's release to 2026 to ensure the new material was fully developed. It was described as a concept album. She believes this record represents her true self, describing the creative process as a seamless experience that captures her personality more deeply than ever before. In the album's trailer, she revealed the concept of the album title "Dandelions are masters of survival, thriving in even the harshest environments. Often dismissed as a common weed, this unassuming plant carries a deeper symbolism of hope, healing and resilience. This next record to me has so much growth in it". She further noted that, when she told her makeup artist about the title, he informed her that dandelion tea is known as a natural detox for the liver, with Langley noting, "when he said that, it was literally like one of those cartoon light bulbs went off over my head" due to how well it would thematically follow-up her first album Hungover. Langley cited the music of Ronnie Milsap as a major influence on Dandelion due to his expansive sound, stating: "if you played Ronnie Millsap, for anyone who was just introduced to country yesterday, and they say, 'What genre is this?' They'd be like, 'Classic country'. And to me, artists like that have given me belief in myself to just explore and create and not put this box around everything where I'm feeling like I need to write this for this and do this and please this person and this person". == Release and promotion ==
Release and promotion
In anticipation for her second record, she put out the Hardy collaboration "Never Met Anyone Like You", a cover of Toby Keith's "Wish I Didn't Know Now", "This Version of Us" for the soundtrack of Nobody Wants This, and the Miranda Lambert-assisted "Choosin' Texas". The latter became a TikTok sensation and a historic chart-topper, making Langley the first female artist to simultaneously lead the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Country Songs, and Country Airplay charts. Unreleased tracks like "Loving Life Again" and "I Gotta Quit" were performed during her live sets, confirming they will be part of the upcoming album. On February 2, she announced The Dandelion Tour playing arenas across North America. "Be Her" would be chosen as the second single for the album, being shipped to country radio on March 23, 2026. It peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album's full tracklist was revealed on April 2, 2026. == Reception ==
Reception
On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized score out of 100 to ratings from professional publications, Dandelion received a weighted mean score of 87, based on 5 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Dandelion became her first No. 1 on the Billboard 200, debuting with 169,000 equivalent album units in the US for the week ending April 24, 2026. Dandelion became Langley's biggest debut week in terms of sales, and also recorded the highest first-week total consumption for a female country artist this year. ==Track listing==
Personnel
Credits are adapted from Tidal. MusiciansElla Langley – vocals (all tracks), acoustic guitar (tracks 1, 18), background vocals (2, 4, 6–9, 13–16) • Charlie Worsham – acoustic guitar (1–9, 11–17, 19), mandolin (3, 4, 8, 15, 19), banjo (6) • Spencer Cullumpedal steel guitar (2, 4–9, 11–16, 19), steel guitar (3) • Tom Bukovac – electric guitar (2–9, 11–16, 19) • Ben West – background vocals (2, 5, 7, 14, 15, 19), Wurlitzer piano (2, 6), percussion (4, 5, 14), Mellotron (5, 16), acoustic guitar (10, 13, 15, 16), Hammond organ (14, 19); bass guitar, Omnichord, piano (16) • Rachel Loy – bass guitar (2–9, 13–16, 19) • Ben Flanders – electric guitar (2–9, 13–16, 19) • Aksel Coe – drums, percussion (2–7, 9, 13, 15, 16) • Dave Cohen – Hammond organ (2, 4), keyboards (3, 4, 9), Mellotron (4, 13) • Austin Goodloe – background vocals (2, 9, 13, 14, 19); acoustic and electric guitar, keyboards, piano, and synthesizer (19) • Miranda Lambert – background vocals (3, 7, 16) • Gideon Klein – arrangement, cello (5, 10); double bass (5) • David Angell – violin (5, 10) • David Davidson – violin (5, 10) • Monica Angell – viola (5, 10) • David Dorn – Hammond organ (6, 7, 9, 15, 16), synthesizer (6, 8, 14), celeste (6), piano (11–13), Wurlitzer piano (14), keyboards (15) • Jordan Schmidt – percussion (6) • Aaron Raitiere – background vocals (7, 11) • Joybeth Taylor – background vocals (7) • Aaron Sterling – drums, percussion (8, 14, 19) • Devin Dawson – acoustic guitar, baritone guitar, electric guitar, Hammond organ, programming (8) • Ernest – background vocals (8) • Tony Lucido – bass guitar (11, 12) • Lonnie Wilson – drums (11, 12) • Rob McNelley – electric guitar (11, 12) • Carter Faith – background vocals (12) • Jake Worthington – background vocals (12) • Laura Veltz – background vocals (14) Technical • Ella Langley – production • Ben West – production (1–10, 12–18), engineering (3, 10, 15, 16), vocal engineering (2–5, 7, 14, 15), editing (2, 4–17, 19) • Miranda Lambert – production (2–17) • Devin Dawson – production, engineering, vocal engineering, editing (8) • Dave Claussmixing (all tracks), engineering (2–9, 14–16, 19), vocal engineering (3, 5, 7, 16, 19), editing (7, 11) • Sean Moffitt – engineering (1, 18), vocal engineering (1, 6, 18) • Gabriel Klein – engineering (10) • Chuck Ainlay – engineering (11, 17), vocal engineering (10–12, 16, 17), editing (12, 17) • Austin Goodloe – vocal production (2, 9, 13, 14), vocal engineering (2, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 19), programming (19) • Mike Stankiewicz – vocal engineering (2, 6, 9, 13, 14) • Kam Luchterhand – vocal engineering (2, 7, 12) • Jordan Schmidt – vocal engineering (6) • Evan Ridgway – engineering assistance (1, 10, 18) • Jase Keithley – engineering assistance (1, 18) • David Paulin – engineering assistance (2–5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 17) • Steve Cordray – engineering assistance (5, 10) • Grant Wilson – engineering assistance (6, 8, 13–16) • Phillip Smith – engineering assistance (19) • Andrew Mendelson – mastering (1, 2, 4–19) • Pete Lyman – mastering (3) • Sam Bergeson – editing (2, 6, 9, 13, 14) • Kelsey Granda – project coordination • Alyson McAnally – project coordination (10–12, 17) ==Charts==
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