Michelle Branch. Jill Augusto
To say that Michelle Branch has been through a lot the last 10 years is the very definition of understatement. The Nashville-based singer-songwriter has made three albums (two of which are still unreleased), been held hostage by her record label, went through a divorce, and raised her 11-year-old daughter, Owen.
Next week, on April 7, Branch finally releases her long-awaited fourth record Hopeless Romantic (and third major-label debut), on her own terms.
"I finally made a record that I can really truly stand behind and say, this was my album that I would've made whether I had a record label or not," explains Branch. "I believe in it that much."
Branch first burst onto the alternative music scene in 2000 as the "anti-Britney," an artist more in love with guitar riffs and lovelorn lyrics than selling sex appeal and acting like a pop queen.
She initially released an independent record Broken Bracelet, before signing to Maverick to release the studio album that put her on the map, The Spirit Room. Following the success of her first major-label release, Branch dropped Hotel Paper and went on to found country duo The Wreckers with singer Jessica Harp in 2005. During that time she also got married and had a daughter, with the intention of continuing to release music.
In 2008, Branch's flourishing career hit a wall in the midst of various hirings and firings at Warner Bros. Records, resulting in major delays—and later terminations—of her several planned albums.
At first, she intended to release a country album, but received record-label feedback for years that it wasn't "country enough" or that it was "too pop," and ended up releasing a six-track EP featuring a handful of the songs called Everything Comes And Goes. By the time it was released, Branch had left that album altogether, and decided to make a pop-rock record, which she announced as West Coast Time in 2010.
To support the LP, she released the anthemic rock single "Loud Music" to get fans excited for her comeback. But label changes soon made the release impossible. "There were meetings I took where label presidents would say, 'I know what you should do: you should sing a song with Zedd or do an EDM collaboration.' I'm like, 'Do you know me? Do you think I should really be doing this?' We know the answer here."
After yet another failed album rollout, Branch got out of her contract with Warner Bros. She soon signed with Verve to make the record that will thrill her every fan, Hopeless Romantic.
After a long road of false starts, it should come as no surprise that we can thank the intervention of fate for Branch's first LP since 2003: Branch met Black Keys drummer and producer Patrick Carney at a Grammys party in 2015, and the rest is history.
"Patrick has a weak spot in his heart for underdogs," says Branch. "He saw this really unfair situation, and he was like, 'How can I help?' "
Following their meeting, Branch and Carney began exchanging music and working on an album together, with Carney producing and co-writing alongside Branch. While making Hopeless Romantic, the two fell in love, and at the same time, tapped into The Black Keys' bluesy sound, mixed with smoky melodies and moody, heartfelt lyrics.
Branch describes the recording process as pure catharsis; being in limbo with her label for such a long time took a toll on her that she's still coming to grips with today. "That's not just my record on a piece of paper," she explains. "Not having the record released affected big things in my life: My daughter was three or four at the time, and I wanted to have another baby, but I didn't because I thought, 'I might have a record out in a few years. I should wait until after that record cycle.' "
During a winter afternoon at The Bowery Hotel, Branch filled us in on what happened to her "lost" albums, her new music and what she's got planned for the future.