Peytan Porter Reflects On Closing An Important Musical Chapter With Release Of ‘In My Head: The Lost Songs’ [Exclusive]

Peytan Porter is closing the doors on the chapter of life that inspired her debut project, In My Head. To help her usher in a fresh start, she has surprised fans with the release of two brand-new tracks in a collection titled In My Head: The Lost Songs.

Both of the new songs – “New For Me” and “For The Good” – were written and recorded at the time of her first project and were initially set to bookend what would have been a full-length version of the collection. However, plans changed after Porter found herself going through a creative and personal shift and the full project never came to fruition. 

“I don’t know how it how it felt as consumers and the fans who loved that project and loved the pink and really bought into that kind of era with me, but the change internally felt so abrupt,” she explained of the creative shift. “Pieces got left out that were parts of the story that were important for people to understand. So I wanted to really honor it.”

She continued, “I’ve just grown into a place where I want to be whoever I want to be and not what I think I’m supposed to be. I think that that project, I get to look at it with a lot more compassion and admiration now that I’ve had some space from it. So I want to honor what it was and what it did for me in my career and just give the fans who loved it and still support it a little parting treat.”

Celebrating Two Years Of “In My Head”

After experiencing plenty of growth in the past two years, Porter is prepared to celebrate that chapter of her life by rounding out her story through these new songs. So on June 24, 2024, the two-year anniversary of In My Head, these two unreleased tracks are finally getting their chance to shine. 

“These two in particular were already done and they were also songs that I still love and I still enjoy listening to because they’ve lived in my phone this whole time,” Porter explained to Country Now. “These also feel like they would have bookended what the ‘In My Head’ full length would have been because it’s kind of the start of something and then the end of it, or likewise, depending on which order you listen to these two. So it feels like it’s really closing the book on that season of my life before I start going into this next phase of my music.”

Porter discovered early on in her life that songwriting was the perfect outlet for her to express how she was feeling without having to actually say it. Both of these just-released tracks give listeners a look into the great depth of her songwriting as she continues to portray her emotions through vulnerable lyrics. 

Story Behind “New For Me”

“New For Me” was penned in 2020 by Porter with Evan Cline and Allie Dunn and chronicles her real-life experience with catching feelings for the first time in a long time. She illustrates the beginning stage of all the fun and rush of excitement she’s feeling with the potential of finding her person.   

“I had been in a series of bad canoodles, if you will. This person was somebody that I grew up with and it was all just really exciting. There was one moment where he came to visit me and he kissed me sober. I was like, I don’t remember the last time someone has kissed me sober, and it was just this huge kind of whirlwind from there of like, what does this mean? Somebody who’s not for sure gonna wreck my life, what could that look like?  So that’s what that one really stemmed from.”

A Moment Of Reflection In “For The Good”

In the time between writing “New For Me” and “For The Good,” Porter experienced a few more relationships that helped her realize that she deserved to find something better for her next partner. “For The Good” follows this journey of ups and downs while showcasing Porter’s more vulnerable side as she takes a moment to reflect on what went wrong with each person and why they didn’t end up working out. 

“That was one where I kind of got to draw a narrative on each experience I’d had up to that point and look at why they didn’t work out and kind of name it in that song and then hope for myself that I would do better. To a degree, I have done better,” she said with hope in her voice. 

What’s Next For Peytan Porter?

Looking ahead, Peytan Porter says her next chapter is “so exciting.” While she is still in the very early stages of building out her next body of work, the rising female star teased a bit of what fans can expect from moving forward and how this collection will differ from her past releases.   

“I listen to a lot more indie music than I do mainstream country music and I kind of always have. I just decided it’s finally time to be really honest about that and let it impact the way that I make music and it already impacts the way I live my life and the shows that I choose to spend money on tickets to and how I like road tripping,” she explained.

Porter went on to say that she plans to be “much more honest” and have “much more fun” with her forthcoming wave of music as she taps into her lifestyle more than ever before. 

“I think I’ve done the part where I take myself really seriously and I try and get people to understand that I’m a good songwriter and now I want to make music for my lifestyle, which is road tripping and trying to play shows. I just live a much lighter life that I think my music has reflected up to this point.”

2024 Has Already Brought A string Of Milestones For Porter

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Already this year, she has released her second project GROWN, played her first-ever headlining shows dubbed the “The Road To Grown,” made her Grand Ole Opry debut, and more.

With this new chapter, Peytan Porter shared that she also hopes to schedule out some time on the road to accompany her next set of music. She recently performed as an opener on Tim McGraw’s Standing Room Only tour and will continue to keep fans updated on details regarding her next run.