Figuring out who you are as a 20-something is never easy. Jenna Raine is at her most honest and raw self yet on her newest track, “Just 15.” Leaning into the duality of growing up in Texas and building a career and life in Los Angeles, the 21-year-old singer is expanding her roots and reflecting on who she’s becoming rather than who she was. She describes the new music as “the most me music has felt ever.”
At 21, Raine is navigating how to grow both personally and professionally while also learning how to love and be loved in a new relationship. Back in April 2025, Raine released her EP, Only Started Growing, turning everyday lessons into unforgettable memories. According to Raine, the EP stemmed from a long musical hiatus and she says she didn’t want to leave her fans and listeners without a project for more than a year and a half. One standout track, the hit song “Roses,” is a folksy song that focuses on positivity and determination, encouraging listeners not to let negativity “rain on their parade.”
The response to “Roses” helped Raine realize that listeners connect most when she’s telling the truth about herself.
Raine’s new music continues her journey, blending her Texas roots with storytelling she’s crafted during her time in Nashville. She says that this new body of work is set to reflect where she comes from, what she values and the version of herself she’s becoming. “Talk Of The Town” draws inspiration from Hannah Montana’s “He Could Be the One” and reflects Raine’s joyful, happy and romcom-like music, which she believes is missing in contemporary music. This marked the start of this new musical direction — both lyrically and sonically. “It’s kind of leaning into the Texas and me,” Raine says.
The Americana track “Just 15” continues to lean into that hometown, Texas feel. Raine reflects on her younger self with forgiveness, recounting mistakes that felt monumental at the time — hurting a friend over a boy, saying something in regret, shutting out her mom. It opens with a spare guitar and intimacy that hits hard, s she flashes back to her regrets as a kid in Texas. With a banjo and pedal steel, Raine finally begins to heal from her past (“It’s okay to give yourself some grace, take it from me / You weren’t mean, you were just fifteen”).
Photo Courtesy: Glitterflick
“It’s kind of leaning into the hometown feel [of] Texas,” Raine says. “It’s right in line sonically with ‘Talk Of The Town.’ It’s a bit more of a fall song. It’s less energy. And I’m excited that I’ll even be able to bring another piece of music to my listeners before the end of the year.”
Raine says it’s more about who she is and her roots rather than moving to Los Angeles over the past three years.
“Those are two very different lives, and getting to talk more about my hometown and what it feels like to visit home and just kind of leaning into the roots of country music has kind of been really fun and experimental for me,” she says.
Instead of judging who she used to be, Raine says it’s all about figuring out who she was. Rather than being this awful person, she was just young and emotional. Driven by warm, reflective guitar, Raine’s latest song is nostalgic, reflective, and a bit healing, especially at that age when looking back on yourself can feel cringey or awkward.
“‘Just 15’ is about me going home to Texas and being reminded of all the mistakes and insecurities I had growing up,” Raine says. ”I think back on the times I hurt friends, argued with my parents, and tried too hard to fit in, and I still feel some of that guilt. But writing this song was my way of forgiving my younger self and remembering that I wasn’t mean—I was just 15 and still figuring life out.”
While grounding herself in her roots, Raine reflects on how the internet shapes her career and songwriting, particularly after the release of “Who Am I” from her Only Started Growing EP. She remembers the reaction as “completely out of left field.” The track’s lyrics — “the girl I used to be in 2017 honestly, I hardly recognize” — have led to over 100,000 TikTok videos using the song.
“So it’s just funny how the internet can have such an effect on your success and what you end up wanting to write in the future because of what’s doing well,” she says. “It’s a weird balance as an artist and a songwriter, but at the end of the day, it’s like what’s working, and it’s how I’m connecting with people, so that’s what’s most important, and I want to connect with as many people as possible and really help people with my music. So I’m thankful for TikTok, absolutely.”
The latest track comes as Raine hits the road in support of fellow singer and friend, Avery Anna, on her Let Go Letters Tour, which began on Nov. 13 in Hombart, Indiana and concludes on Dec. 20 in Denver, Colorado.
Clare is a 2024 Stony Brook University graduate, holding a B.A. in Journalism. She interned at Melodic Magazine during the spring 2024 semester and currently serves as the Album Coordinator and a journalist for the magazine. Outside of her work at the magazine, she is also a Digital Producer at WRIC ABC 8News in Virginia.
