Iconic country music can come from anywhere, and New Zealand artist Kaylee Bell is proof. In 2023, she became the second NZ-born artist to take home a coveted CMA Award (following in the footsteps of Keith Urban), winning the Global Country Artist award—and she’s been very busy since.
Just last month on Sep. 26, she released her newest album, Cowboy Up, consisting of eight anthemic and soulful country tracks. It’s sometimes rousing and upbeat, other times deeply vulnerable and emotional, and from start to finish, it showcases her impressive talents as an artist and weaver of stories.
“This record is the most ‘me’ I’ve ever sounded,” Kaylee revealed in a press release. “Cowboy Up is a reflection of where I’ve been, who I am now, and where I’m going. It’s about strength, identity and finding your voice in all the messy, beautiful parts of life.”
(Cowboy Up via Kaylee Bell Music)
The album kicks off with the upbeat title track, “Cowboy Up,” which managed to become a viral hit on TikTok before it even officially released. It’s an irresistibly fun song about asking a guy to fully commit or get out of the way.
Next up are beloved tracks “Ring On It” and “Red Dirt Romeo,” bringing high-energy production and Kaylee’s unique perspective to create classic country love stories, which really culminate in the dreamy “The Thing About Us.”
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With track five, she takes things in a different direction, covering Natalie Imbruglia’s ’90s classic, “Torn,” with a fresh Kaylee twist, before leaping into “Song for Shania.” It’s an homage to country trailblazer and musical inspiration Shania Twain—another star who showed the world you don’t need to be American to make a name for yourself in the country genre.
(Image courtesy of Kaylee Bell)
Next, “Walk in Tennessee Tonight” takes a grander and more romantic approach to love before the album concludes with, “Heartbeat,” which may be the most personal and openhearted release on Cowboy Up. It’s a powerful song about motherhood as Kaylee discovers she’s going to become a mom and thinks about what her future will look like as she builds her family. She welcomed her son to the world in January of this year.
And in November, Kaylee will also be taking the album on the road with a big headline tour across New Zealand. 2025 truly has been her year—but that’s not to say that 2026 can’t be even bigger.
For more on our favorite new music, click HERE to read our interview with Irish band NewDad on their album, Altar.
