Ingrid Andress and Sam Hunt Share Surprise New Song ‘Wishful Drinking’

Ingrid Andress and Sam Hunt teamed up for a surprise collaboration this week, releasing their new song, “Wishful Drinking,” on Tuesday, Aug. 2. The song was written by Andress with Jonny Price, JP Saxe, Lucky Daye and Rykeyz and is, according to Andress, a “sad bop” about wanting another chance with an ex after you’ve had a few drinks.

“I’ve never done anything like ‘Wishful Drinking’ before,” the singer said in a statement. “I’ve always wanted to work with Sam and have been such a fan of his for a long time. I admire how he stays so true to himself and am so happy to have him join me for my first collaboration. The song was co-written by my friend JP Saxe, and it became this amazing sad bop, which we all know I love.”

“I heard Ingrid’s music a while back and knew right away she was a very talented singer and songwriter,” Hunt shared. “I met her not long ago at a Nashville Sports League kickball game and I really enjoyed getting to know her a little bit. When the opportunity came along to be a part of this song with her, I was all in.”

The song’s music video was filmed at the Flamingo Cocktail Club in Nashville and sees Andress and Hunt performing the song from across the room before getting up to sing on a small stage in the bar. The duo opened up about the song during an interview with Kelleigh Bannen on Apple Music 1, where Hunt revealed that “Wishful Drinking” is the first song he appeared on that he didn’t help write.

“I just don’t connect to songs that often, I don’t know what that is or why that is, but it’s not an ego thing at all. It’s not like, I’m not going to sing on a song unless I’m a writer on it,” he said. “But obviously because this song came along and I connected to it, and it’s usually the people involved in the song too, the writers, my connection to Ingrid, being a fan, and then meeting her and hitting it off and getting to experience her heart firsthand.”

Andress shared that she was “hesitant” to approach Hunt about the collaboration but couldn’t “hear anybody else on it.” “So to me, I was like, ‘Let’s just ask him and then I’ll just move on with my life and never collab with anybody. It’s fine,’” she recalled. “Really glad it worked out because I really didn’t have any other ideas for who I’d want to be on the song. So I was just kind of like, ‘I guess it’s worth an ask.’ So when Sam was like, ‘Sure,’ I was like, ‘Really? Okay.’”

Andress will soon take “Wishful Drinking” on the road when she begins her Feeling Things Tour in late September. She is also set to open for Dan + Shay on their The (Arena) Tour, which resumes earlier that month.