Cassadee Pope Releases New Single, 'One More Red Light'

Cassadee Pope has a brand-new single at radio! The winner of Season 3 of The Voice in 2012 just released "One More Red Light," from an upcoming new album.

"I wrote it with Emily Shackleton and Kelly Archer," Pope tells PopCulture.com of the uptempo new tune. "We always get something really good when we write; every session I'm so excited because I know we're going to leave with something really special. We're just are always on the same page somehow."

Pope, who is currently dating actor Sam Palladio, says the inspiration for the tune was the desire to keep spending time with the person you love.

"That day I just had this idea of – I'm sure a lot of people have been there where you just don't want the date to end, and you just want to take the long way home and keep getting to know each other. It's just capturing the beginning stages of falling in love. They just thought 'One More Red Light' would be a cool way to tell the story."

"One More Red Light" follows Pope's previous single, "Take You Home," both songs that hint at a new, transformed Pope.

"It's kind of this hopeful turning a new leaf energy that I have, I guess," Pope shares. "And in my music and in my life and everything, it just feels very transformative. The song to me does feel like a continuation of this single, and of 'Take You Home.' That's my main goal with all of these songs that have yet to come out is to tell the story. And it might not be in the right order of the way it all happened and went down, but I wanted my re-introduction to be where I am in my life right now."

Pope's re-introduction comes after releasing Frame by Frame, her freshman record, on Big Machine Label Group, one year after winning The Voice, followed by her Summer EP three years later, and then making the brave decision to release her next set of tunes on her own, after leaving BMLG.

"I kind of took a step back when things were getting a little tough," concedes the singer. "When I left the label, when I changed management, [and] I broke up with my ex – it was just a lot of changes. I took a step away with all the changes happening so I felt like it was me stepping back into the format, back into peoples lives.

"And for me at least, I stayed active on social media and everything over that last year but I didn't go to any awards shows. I wasn't on tour," she continues. "I played shows to keep trying to pay my bills but I didn't have a single to go on the radio. I wasn't releasing anything so it felt like I had just gone away for a minute."

Pope doesn't have a release date for her next set of tunes, but she does suggest that the singles are a good indication of what the final product will sound like.

"It's very similar to what you're hearing for these songs," the 28-year-old reveals. "Taking 'One More Red Light,' but there's definitely slower songs on there. There's one I'm really excited about. It's very anthemic and heart-wrenching and sad, but it's also super relatable and I'm really excited about that one in particular."

Pope got her start with the rock band, Hey Monday, prior to appearing on The Voice. She also just wrapped a run as the opening act on the rock and punk Warped Tour, but she's a loyal fan of country music as well – all influences that will appear on her sophomore record.

"I just wanted the album to really, really capture every single emotion that I've had over the last year and some of it is kind of dark and sad," Pope reveals. "Some of it's kind of angsty and rock 'n' roll and in your face, and some of it is just good ol' vulnerable country song-writing, and then some is just pop, upbeat, super excited and happy about life."

Download "One More Red Light" on iTunes.

Photo Credit: Getty images/Erika Goldring