BRELAND went to Selma to find himself. His “Project 2024” is music based on what he saw and felt

The last few years have been a whirlwind for BRELAND.

He released his 2022 debut album, Cross Country, a fluid approach to country music that now feels prescient — it’s the direction the genre continues to move. He toured endlessly, won awards and collaborated with the biggest names in country. He also realized that he needed to slow down, live a little and explore himself to find out what was next.

So he went to Selma, Alabama – once the home of his great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother – to recharge, something his mother had done the year before. The journey would eventually lead to a new EP, provocatively titled “Project 2024.”

“You imagine Selma as this city that, as you know, is such a living symbol of hope and freedom and the resilience of the American people and the African American community. But unfortunately it is a city that has been largely forgotten by most of us,” he says. Repairs from a tornado that struck last year still haven’t been made. Storefronts from the 1960s are empty.

“It’s literally a food desert. … The nearest hospital is 30 miles away. So I went there and I saw, “Wow, this is a community that I expected, but it was actually very different.” And I realized that, you know, I’m just one or two decisions away from growing up in this community community,” says BRELAND. “And in many ways, at least historically, these are my people.” It was an eye-opening experience that made him realize he had to make a work that brought attention to Selma — and write songs that told real stories.

These are all over Project 2024, but perhaps none are as direct as his collaboration with The War & Treaty, “Same Work,” the “straightest country” track on the EP, as he describes it.

In the text, BRELAND talks about an experience he had at a meet and greet. A fan shared his story with the country star: He’s a veteran, now retired from the military, working as a nurse providing free health care to other veterans in need.

“He says, ‘You and I do the same work.’ And I was like, “We’re definitely not doing that.” “What you’re doing is tangible, like you’re helping people in need.” He said, “That’s what you’re doing.” He’s like, “We’re doing the same thing Work.” We do it in different ways. God’s purpose for us is different, but if the root of your work is wanting to help, motivate, encourage and show love to people? “Then we do absolutely the same work,” he says again.

The story touched a nerve. It’s the emotional heart of the six-track release, which ends as a reminder of people’s potential for good.

So what about the title “Project 2024”? BRELAND says he has nothing to do with Project 2025, a nearly 1,000-page blueprint for a rightward shift in American government and society and a frequent topic of conversation in the run-up to the presidential election.

“Having just been to Selma and seeing these people’s experiences, I think there are a lot of freedoms that we can’t take for granted. And for me, I choose to express that through music. So it’s more of a creative agenda than a political one,” he explains.

“Literally, this is the only project I’m releasing in 2024. You can deal with it at this level,” he says. “The title is certainly a little controversial. But you know, maybe that will get people to click on it. Maybe they don’t.”

He urges listeners not to read any political messages into it.

“I don’t think any of the songs on this project are political at all. But I think that my existence in this space, as a very vocal young black man who has never shied away from difficult conversations in the past, my experience in this space is in some ways political. But I always want the music to be as accessible as possible.”

And he did it by continuing the country music genre fusion he introduced with “Cross Country.” “Motion” mixes in Afrobeats. “Icing” introduces Southern Gospel.

“Project 2024” may not be political, but it pushes boundaries and finds human connections at every turn.