Cassadee Pope draws on her pop-punk roots in the guitar-driven new song “What the Stars See,” a collaboration with Lindsay Ell and Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild. It is Pope’s first new release since the 2020 EP Rise and Shine.
Penned by Pope with Jake Rose and Lindsey Rimes, “What the Stars See” comes with the heavy guitar crunch and thundering drums to fit its angsty atmosphere. With palm-muted guitars chugging beneath her, Pope wonders what an ex might be up to. “I can’t stop picturing/What you may or may not be doing/Wish my eyes could shine down on you” she sings, wishing she had a kind of all-seeing omnipotence to know for certain.
“It made me think back to times in my life when I had just come out of a relationship but still felt so connected to the other person,” Pope said of “What the Stars See.” “I imagined having the superpower to be among the stars and observe, from their perspective, an ex moving on with their life (or not).”
Singer-guitarist Ell and Fairchild chime in on the urgent chorus harmonies, with Fairchild taking over the lead for the second verse. Fairchild produced the track alongside Nick Wheeler.