(Big Loud/Back Blocks Music)

You can just call Ashley Cooke ace, which also happens to be the name of her new album.

“Growing up, my dad gave me this nickname: Ace,” she explains. “I’m not sure if it was his love of blackjack or because it’s kind of my initials, but nonetheless, it just stuck. It makes me think of the person that I am, truly, to my core, behind closed doors.”

Her previous album, shot in the dark, came out in July 2023 and featured her breakthrough #1, “your place.”

“It’s been about two and a half years since my debut record was released,” she reflects. “So many incredible, bucket-list things filled the days after with the best people I could ever imagine getting to share them with.”

Still, there were plenty of challenges that came along with Ashley’s success.

“Life has a funny way of spitting rain when you think it’s gonna be a sunny day,” she says. “I swear, one thing hit after another. I lost some of the most important people in my life, and health issues in my family piled up left and right. Love came, and love went.”

“This music is derived from those real situations,” she continues. “It’s brutal honesty. It’s a story in chronological order. And it’s a collection of songs welcoming you to the next chapter.”

The nine-track album, which features five unreleased songs, will arrive Nov. 14.

Here’s the complete track listing for Ashley Cooke’s ace:
“gettin’ old”
“baby blues”
“the f word”
“talk about”
“the hell you are”
“swear words”
“excuses”
“tin foil hat”
“(my worst fear)”