David Cook’s Newest Single Flips the Switch on Anxiety

Singer-songwriter, actor, and American Idol champion David Cook has returned with a new single called “Reds Turn Blue,” a reference to the manic highs (red) and lows (blues) of anxiety. Lyrically, this song touches on Cook’s own experience dealing with an anxiety disorder.

Since winning Season Seven of the popular singing competition, Cook began to have anxiety episodes with no real rhyme or reason. The track comes at a time when uncertainty is all around, but it is a hopeful song, as Cook has learned to manage these emotions, and that whatever is heavy in the moment will pass. Lean into it; breathe through it.

“Reds Turn Blue” is Cook’s first new music since 2018’s EP Chromance, and in addition to focusing on the message of overcoming anxiety, musically, Cook wanted to bring the guitar back to the table and feature it differently.

OUT FRONT had the opportunity to talk more with Cook about the new single.

Hi, David! Thank you so much for chatting with me about your new single, “Reds Turn Blue.” Can you begin by telling us more about the concept?
Sure. “Reds Turn Blue: was written as kind of a letter from my anxiety to me. I found out a couple years after Idol that I had an anxiety disorder, and I had always wanted to write about it, but never really found the right vehicle for it. I wrote this song in October 2019, and it kind of allowed me to personify my anxiety and navigate my relationship with it.

This is your first new music since 2018’s EP Chromance. Was anxiety the reason for the long pause?
No, I am just notoriously slow at putting out new music. I’m not 100 percent sure of the reason other than maybe I’m just a bit of a perfectionist. It takes a lot to get excited about a song. I write almost constantly; I just have a lot of stuff that I don’t feel is up to snuff to put out. So, to have a song like “Reds Turn Blue” come along and to be able to get excited about it, I wish that happened more often.

You said you wanted to bring the guitar back to the table a little more than you had in the last couple efforts, but feature it differently than before. Can you elaborate more on this?
You know, I kind of grew up on 90s alternative, so historically, I have always wanted to angle towards, like, the big, wall-of-sound guitar stuff. I really made a concerted effort with Chromance and “Death of Me” to make the guitar more of an ancillary instrument and try to bring in more modern synth stuff and programming. So, with “Reds Turn Blue,” and a lot of the stuff I have been writing, I am trying to come back to the guitar, but not go back to the wall of sound. Use the guitar as more of a jumping off point. I just want those two to mingle a little bit better. I think in the past couple releases, it has been more focused on the synth and programming, then bring in the guitar later as a taste. So, I really just want to allow those two to coexist a little more equally.

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What do you hope audience take away from “Reds Turn Blue?”
As with anything I put out, I am allowing these songs to be open to interpretation. I know what the songs mean to me. Like I said, “Reds Turn Blue” is a special song to me, but I want people to find what they want out of it. That’s what has always got me excited about music as a listener. I will hear a song and think it’s about one thing, and that’s just how I am internalizing it and how I am connecting with that song. Then, you’ll find a story down the line of what that song is really about. It opens you up to reinterpretations. So, I like putting music out and leaving it up to the listener to figure out what they want to find.

You began having anxiety episodes in 2010. Did you not have them pre-American Idol?
I had one, particular episode during Idol. At the time, I didn’t know what it was, and I didn’t think anything of it. It was during Dolly Parton week; I had an attack on the side of the stage as I was getting ready to go out to perform. It wasn’t fun. The stagehand saw me go like ghost white, and he was like, don’t lock your knees and pass out on TV. So, that’s really all I focused on. I don’t really remember performing the song, but yeah, that was the first one I really remember. Then, a couple years after Idol, I had gotten off the road from my first record, and my brother passed away during that. It was just the convergence of all that. While working on the second record, I had a series of episodes that forced me to get into therapy and figure out medication.

So, what do you think really set off your anxiety where episodes became more frequent?
My anxiety kind of presents itself … it’s usually like a sense of dread. Almost whenever good things happen, I catch myself thinking, I have to look over my shoulder because something bad is going to come to even this out. It generally presents itself as an unsettled feeling. Then, I’ll have more of the acute attacks where my blood pressure will spike, and I will get short of breath. It’s been a process, but I haven’t had one in a long time. Knock on wood.

How do you overcome these attacks, and what advice can you give someone who is suffering the same way?
Oh, God. It’s a process. For me, it was finding the right people to talk to and just finding little tricks. Finding ways to confront attacks. This song was a huge help in making it something else as opposed to I’m having anxiety. Oh, there’s my anxiety. I readily acknowledged it, and the way that it manifests is not really the same as anybody else, and vice versa. So, it is hard to pinpoint and give firm advice other than assess it and finding out what works for you.

Has singing and music always been your passion?
Oh, no [laughs]. I grew up playing sports in the Midwest, and I wanted to play baseball. In high school, I messed up my shoulder, so I started to turn to music and found regional success fairly quickly. I jumped in with both feet, and once I realized what I could get out of songwriting and performing, it quickly became a driving force for me. It has been awesome how it has opened up all of these opportunities for me over the past 20 years.

What have you taken away the most from “Reds Turn Blue?”
I think what I have taken away from it more than anything is that I was able to write down and really acknowledge what my anxiety is for me. It’s allowed me a different perspective on it, and this is going to sound a little weird, but maybe a new level of respect for it. It’s never going to be fixed. It’s this ongoing process, an ongoing challenge. As long as I can continue to be motivated to attack that challenge, I’m in the right lane.

Are you using these times of uncertainty to really connect with your creative outlets?
Trying to, yes. Obviously, this is not how I perceived 2020 to go. It has given me the time to focus on creative pursuits a little more. The clock has slowed down a little bit. It’s also allowed my wife and I to attack some home projects we have been putting off for eight years. It’s obviously not an ideal situation, but it has helped us try to find that one silver lining.

As an American Idol winner, I must ask, what are your thoughts on the new American Idol?
It’s different, which is neither good or bad. I think my biggest critique is just the format of the whole. Not just Idol, but that whole television singing competition. I felt like the contestants were an afterthought. It seemed like what was going on with the judge’s panel became the focus and asset. You have people come off the show that maybe don’t have the platform that they ought to have. One thing I did enjoy with this latest season of Idol; I feel like them being forced to perform at home almost gave the viewer another look into who these contestants are. So, I am anxious to see if that continues to manifest moving forward. I mean, just as a viewer, I enjoyed that.

Do you still keep in touch with your season’s runner up, David Archuleta?
I do, actually. We both ended up in Nashville somehow. We talk every month or two just checking in and saying hey. Worst case scenario, we’ll talk once a year because our birthdays are, like, a week apart.

You made your Broadway debut in 2018 in Kinky Boots. Do you have any plans to return to the stage?
Do I have plans to? No. Do I want to? Absolutely. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed that. I was extremely nervous going in because it’s such a community. Not having been through it before, I was like, OK, are they going to welcome an outsider? How is this going to go? I couldn’t have asked for a better cast and crew. They were so welcoming. The scenes of that show were and are so important, and I felt like everybody really took that responsibility to tell that story the right way. Seriously, it was just such a blast to be part of the communal aspect of the creative process. Working as a group, and I have made some of my best friends by going through that. So, yes, I would love to do that again.

What’s next for you? Do you have any other upcoming projects we should be on the lookout for?
As soon as we all feel comfortable enough with the health situation, the goal is to get in the studio as soon as possible and do another song. Build up another EP or record. Right now, I am just focused on getting “Reds Turn Blue” out, and hopefully, everybody gives it a listen and enjoys. Find something for themselves in it.

To stay up-to-date with Cook, follow him on social media or visit davidcookofficial.com. “Reds Turn Blue” is now available to stream on all music platforms.

Photo by Jake Harsh Photography

Photography by: Jake Harsh