内容摘要：Three Vietnamese women work in a traditional dress shop in the Little Saigon neighborhood of Westminster, Calif., April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Three Vietnamese women work in a traditional dress shop in the Little Saigon neighborhood of Westminster, Calif., April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

McRae was in the process of making this album, and the snippet she shared felt separate from the narrative she was constructing. Despite an onslaught of comments from listeners asking for the full song, she considered leaving it unreleased or tabling it for much later.Then she got a huge cosign. “When

posted about it, I was like, well, you forced my hand,” McRae laughs. “So then I changed course.”The solution, she realized, was that “Massachusetts” — a song about the specific memories that don’t leave you when a relationship ends — would be the conclusion to the album’s story. Cook kept the song’s production minimal, centering McRae’s vocals and acoustic guitar. “Every rhythm just reinforces that,” he said. “This whole record, I would say, is a lesson in getting out of the way of the song as much as you’re reinforcing it.”McRae hasn’t been able to diagnose exactly why fans online are drawn to certain songs like “Massachusetts” over others. Cook says it’s the same amorphous quality that drives all good music: honesty. “I think that the beauty of authenticity is it’s just so powerful that you don’t know why,” he said.

In any case, McRae has worked to keep her brushes with internet fame from swaying her creative process. “Every decision I’m making about this is like, ‘Do I want this?’ And ‘Is this going to be a good move for my career?’” she said. “Because eventually, no matter what I do, the viral moment passes.”But fans’ reactions have helped her recognize what makes her deeply personal songs relatable — especially as she, too, considers the project with fresh ears and new perspective ahead of an upcoming tour.

“When you’re going through something difficult, intellectually, you know you’re not the first person to whom it’s happened. But it feels that way,” McRae said. “Revisiting it now — one or two or three years after having written the song — I have an appreciation for how, like, of course people are going to have these songs resonate with them. Because of course I’m not the only person who’s gone through these feelings.”

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers returned to the practice field this week with a very important piece back after missing most of last season with injuries.Gianna Young, 7, right, and Isaac Young, 5, pose for a photo on their farm before going to vote with adoptive parents Mike and Erin Young on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Sunbury, Ohio. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Gianna Young, 7, left, Isaac Young, 5, center, and Lucas Young, 8, look at books in the back seat of the truck for the trip to vote with adoptive parents Mike and Erin Young on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Sunbury, Ohio. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Gianna Young, 7, left, Isaac Young, 5, center, and Lucas Young, 8, look at books in the back seat of the truck for the trip to vote with adoptive parents Mike and Erin Young on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Sunbury, Ohio. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

“Educating our kids why voting for leaders who honor and protect life is very important,” said Erin, who homeschools the children. She notes that she and her husband were told one of their children was born after the child’s biological mother took abortion medication that did not work.The Young children from left, Isaac, Lucas, and Gianna, attend the Ohio March for Life with their mom, Erin Young, at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio, Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. All three children are adopted. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)