The inspiration for Brooke Eden’s new song, “Sunroof”, actually came to her in a perfectly unlikely place: the parking lot of a Mexican restaurant. While waiting for his girlfriend to take the food order, Eden felt the sun coming in through the windows and cracked the sunroof for the first time of the year.
“It was just the promise of spring and summer again, after a very cold winter that year. I thought that feeling – that feeling of freedom – reminds me of what it is like to fall in love, ”says Eden. Rolling Stone in a Zoom call in early March.
It’s an appropriate metaphor: after touring the country charts in 2017 with “Act like you don’t,” Eden had to take a break from touring to deal with a health problem. She was also going through a struggle of self-acceptance and taking control, as her relationship with girlfriend Hilary Hoover deepened.
On the positive side, the time that Eden away from the road has allowed her to concentrate on making music. She found a new sound with producer and songwriter Jesse Frasure, who wrote hits for Thomas Rhett, Jon Pardi and Old Dominion. “I went over to Jesse and thought, ‘Listen, I want to create this sound that is retro and soul and country,'” says Eden.
“Sunroof” does the same, combining a Jackson 5-style cyclic chord progression with clapping, treble guitar and Eden’s relaxed vocal delivery. Eden wrote the song with Frasure and Sarah Buxton, capturing the first wave of romance and the feeling of a sunny day when it’s “75 degrees outside with the summer sun on my face” while she sings on the chorus. Along with Eden’s “No Shade” (and a third release), the song highlights an artist who emerged from a difficult, happy and passionate period.
In the “Sunroof” video, Eden traveled back to his hometown in Jupiter, Florida, and chose his girlfriend as his romantic partner. The two pedal through a picturesque coastal area in a classic Ford Mustang, drinking lemonade and holding hands on the beach. It’s innocent and sweet, but immensely powerful – few country videos, even in 2021, depict same-sex relationships.
“I thought it was important for us to record this in my hometown, the place that made me, me. I also knew that it was important for Hilary to be in this video with me because this song is a love song, ”says Eden. “I felt it was important for her to be in this and normalize our love and for people to see that our love is the same as everyone else’s.”
It took a while to be convincing for Hoover, a music business executive used to working behind the scenes, to sign, however.
“[She] it was like, ‘Honey, you know this is not my forte, ”” says Eden. “I was like, ‘Alright, I think I’m going to have to hire an actress to be you.’ And she said, ‘I will do it!’ It was a very quick, 15-second conversation, she realizing that it was definitely not what she wanted me to do. And then, once she got on the set, she was totally natural. “
This idea of feeling free and easy on “Sunroof” translates into all parts of Eden’s life now. Since she decided to live openly, she no longer has to deal with the stress or fear of being received by fans or people in between. It made all the difference in this new chapter of his life.
“I entered this process so confident and firm in who I am and in my relationship,” she says. “You know, there’s not much that can fool you when you’re proud of who you are and how you got here. It is so good and so easy to have these conversations with people when I have finished telling the truth. “