EDITORS’ NOTES

It took six years for country singer and season 3 winner of The Voice Cassadee Pope to follow her 2013 debut album Frame by Frame. But after experiencing not one but two major break-ups in that time—with her fiancé and her label—it’s easy to see why. Those changes would leave even the most stalwart singer shaken, but Pope’s still standing, and she uses Stages to take charge. The bubbly country-pop tracks “Take You Home,” “One More Red Light,” and “Distracted” celebrate irresistible attraction, while she and Shay (from Dan + Shay) deliver a powerful duet that suggests feelings have a mind of their own on the pulsing ballad “If My Heart Had a Heart.” Against a subtle piano-and-guitar backing, she confesses on the moving closer “I’ve Been Good” how much she excels at pretending like everything’s okay even when she’s reeling from a loss. If Pope felt she had to conform to a certain type of country production on her last project, she’s pushing against those expectations now with an array of free-spirited numbers—and enjoying showing off her many sides.