Alex Warren and Jelly Roll teamed up for the song “Bloodline,” which is about breaking the cycle of generational trauma. In the song, when Alex sings, “Oh my brother,” he’s being literal: This song actually is about his brother.
Specifically, Alex tells ABC Audio that “Bloodline” was inspired by his brother’s reaction to the death of their mother, who was an alcoholic.
“He took to a dark corner and got involved in the wrong stuff. And he felt alone,” Alex explains. “And it was a song I wrote about him not being alone … and kind of a conversation him and I had.”
It just so happens that Jelly Roll is Alex’s neighbor, and Jelly’s brother, apparently, went through a similar situation. “I thought it was so cool. And so I pitched him the idea,” Alex says. “I played him the song and he loved it.”
“Bloodline” and Alex’s hit “Ordinary” will both be on his next album, but he says “Ordinary” is more representative of what it’s going to sound like, because, he notes, “‘Bloodline’ is a one-off.”
“I think ‘Bloodline’ is very much stomp-clap and I think I’ve kind of moved away from that,” he explains. Meanwhile, “Ordinary” and a future single, “Eternity,” are “very ethereal,” he says. “And I think people are gonna like that sound a lot.”
But overall, he says, the album features “moments where you want to laugh and dance and clap and there’s other moments where you want to cry.” And in that way, it’s very much like Alex’s concerts.
“I look at the fans so much and they’re always crying or laughing or smiling,” he says. “And it’s so cool that for an hour and 20 minutes you’re in this room and you can go through every emotion possible … it’s just so powerful.”
Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
