Jelly Roll is teasing a lot of new music. The Nashville native, who performed a new song, “Liar,” at the ACM Awards, sang another new song, “I Am Not OK,” while performing for the season finale of The Voice.
The song, which says in part, “I know I can’t be the only one / Who’s holding on for dear life / God knows I know when it’s all said and done / I’m not ok, but it’s all gonna be all right,” is likely part of his next album, which is already in progress, one year after the release of Whitsitt Chapel
“I haven’t said this publicly, I alluded to it at the [CMT Music Awards], but God willing, going into the ACMs we’ll begin the new chapter,” Jelly Roll recently said on the Country Heat Weekly podcast (via American Songwriter). “I think the Whitsitt Chapel era ended at the CMTs.”
Jelly Roll walked away with three trophies at the CMT Music Awards, and another one at the recent ACM Awards. Whitsitt Chapel, in many ways, changed Jelly Roll’s entire life, especially with the overwhelming success of his “Save Me” collaboration with Lainey Wilson. But now, the 39-year-old is ready and eager to embark on a new musical chapter.
“It’s the longest chapter I’ve wrote ever, maybe in my career. I wrote a hundred and something songs last year,” Jelly Roll hinted. “I don’t know how many of them I’m actually going to release this year. Last year, I did a really tight small package with Whitsitt Chapel. I told my wife I’m fighting the urge to start getting on TikTok like an artist that never made it and start dropping songs and see what goes. I have that many songs.”
Jelly Roll may not know when his new set of tunes will come out, or what songs will be on the record, but he does hint he will have a few special guests on the project.
“I’ve got crazy in-genre collabs,” Jelly Roll reveals. “I’ve got three crazy out-of-genre collabs. Like, when you look at the track list finally and it says who it’s featuring, you’re going to be like ‘What is happening? What kind of album is this?’ I’ve got a gospel singer on this album. I’ve got rappers on this album. I’ve got a pop singer on this album.”
No one is more surprised than Jelly Roll at his success, or his hearty welcome into country music. But now, the singer-songwriter has his sights set on yet another form of entertainment.
“What my dream is, is to get into scripted television,” Jelly Roll recently said on Audacy’s K-FROG. “I think that’d be cool, if we told our story in like a 10-part series. That’s what I’m into. I’m always attracted to what I’m a fan of. We would go home at night and pick shows, anything from The Rookie on ABC to The Mayor of Kingstown, but we have so many rotating shows that we’re always watching a series.”
Jelly Roll also has a song, “Leave the Light On” with Alexandra Kay, as part of the upcoming Twisters movie. Both the film and the soundtrack will be available on July 19.
Jelly Roll will embark on his Beautifully Broken Tour, which kicks off on August 27.