I Need To Roam [FLAC] PRE ORDER

I Need to Roam, the new GroundUP Music release from Lucy Woodward, isn’t a compilation or a greatest-hits LP, but it nonetheless finds the ever-searching singer-songwriter taking stock of her career and digging into her personal history. Throughout these nine tracks, supported by her groove-smart band of nine years, The Rocketeers, Woodward incorporates the lessons she’s absorbed during her remarkably wide-ranging life in music. That includes her transatlantic upbringing, split between New York City and the Netherlands; her formative years as a top session singer and then a pop-rock siren with a Top 40 single (“Dumb Girls”); her work with Snarky Puppy, Charlie Hunter and other luminaries of jazz, blues and R&B; her immersion into songwriting; and much more. I Need to Roam also tells a story of the creative power of connection, elevating Woodward’s profound love for collaborative songwriting and tapping into her outreach work. She co-wrote much of this music with her guitarist Jelle Roozenburg, who began sketching songs only after he’d developed an understanding of Woodward’s gifts and could craft music that accentuates them. She met Roozenburg nine years ago, when he was just 21, and was taken aback by the depth and soul in his playing. “I was looking for a guitar player in Europe, and people were sending me these guys who overplay in arenas,” Woodward recalls. “But then I heard this student playing a blues somewhere and I was like, ‘That’s my dude.’” Woodward was equally struck by bassist Udo Pannekeet and drummer Niek de Bruijn, who, together with Roozenburg, play R&B and funk with a laser-focused pocket that evokes Afrobeat. Their creative rapport has only deepened, expanding in both its intuitive communication and collaborative empathy, onstage and off. “We’ve just built this relationship,” says Woodward, “which I’ve never really had the time to do with the bands I have based in New York and L.A. This one has had real growth. They’ve watched me evolve as a singer and an artist.” Todd Wright, one of Woodward’s longest-running collaborators, also contributed deeply to the writing and production. Wright was Woodward’s guitarist in her early years when she was breaking through as a pop artist. “We were on my first tour together running around Japan and New Zealand,” she says, “and basically lived in a van doing shows in the U.S. for over six months. He really knows me.” Fast-forward two decades, and it was his passion that provided the impetus to forge ahead with I Need to Roam. Explains Woodward: “Todd witnessed my entire 20-plus years in the industry, and he was like, ‘You know what? You’ve embraced your pop past and you’ve gained so much knowledge along the way. Let’s put all that into this record and write great songs. I want you to win.’” The singer’s writing on I Need to Roam was also inspired by her recent volunteer work in Rwanda, giving singing and songwriting lessons to high-school girls who’d escaped Taliban rule in Afghanistan. The experience allowed her to cherish anew the strength humanity finds in artistic expression. “Some of the girls said to me, ‘We’re not allowed to do this,’” Woodward recalls. “And I was like, ‘You are. You’re free now.’” That notion, and the inspiration Woodward draws from it, resonate throughout I Need to Roam. The album’s second single, “Roam,” finds the singer longing for the freedom of self-discovery. Not surprisingly, its blend of exploratory pop art and soul came together with a spirit of spontaneity. Woodward had taken some flamenco singing lessons during the pandemic, and began to improvise as her partner, the multi-instrumentalist Louk Boudesteijn, started to play the rhythm part of the song on guitar, kick-starting the writing process for the album. “I’ve become very comfortable with this urge to just keep moving, keep growing, keep being open,” Woodward says. “And I that spirit weave through a lot of these songs.” Timeline First Single: 5/8/2026 - Always (feat. Chris Pierce) Second Single: 6/5/2026 - Roam Third Single: 7/3/2026 - Yes Album: 8/7/2026 - I Need to Roam