Ella Red is stepping into the spotlight.
The 22-year-old, Frisco-based singer-songwriter is readying her debut album, It’s Not Real, for release on Jan. 23, via Nettwerk Records, and has dropped her new single, “He Asked for It” to mark the occasion.
Of the song, Ella Red said in a statement: “This song is full of the same excuses problematic men have always made — ‘It was what she was wearing,’ ‘I saw it in her body language,’ ‘She shouldn’t have been out so late.’ All I did was flip the script, ‘He Asked for It.’”
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You can take a listen to the pulsing, brooding and irresistibly catchy track below.
Ella Red (born Ella Jennings) describes the overall feel of It’s Not Real as “all-consuming,” noting the project will feature songs pulled from her teenaged output.
“There’s always been something all-consuming to me about humanity — our existence, the beauty and the mistakes,” she said in a statement. “It’s eaten at me since I was a child and continued until it was almost unbearable in my late teens and even now. I wanted my music to feel as all-consuming as these episodes, and I feel like with It’s Not Real, I’m telling more than my own story — I’m telling a part of humanity’s.”
Ella Red has long been a rising star in North Texas — KXT singled her out just last year as one of our Local Music Month featured artists — and having signed with a major label at the close of 2024, she’s only positioned herself to grow further.
Ella Red doesn’t yet have any live appearances set for her hometown — she’s spending a few days on tour in Germany next month — but as the release of It’s Not Real draws closer, she will doubtless celebrate her accomplishment with her North Texas fans and neighbors.
Preston Jones is a North Texas freelance writer and regular contributor to KXT. Email him at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky (@prestonjones.bsky.social).Our work is made possible by our generous, music-loving members. If you like how we lift up local music, consider becoming a KXT sustaining member right here.
Source: https://kxt.org/2025/09/friscos-ella-red-readies-her-debut-studio-album-for-early-2026-release/
