A country singer and songwriter with a warm, smoky voice and often intimate, introspective approach, Laci Kaye Booth first rose to fame as a Top Five finalist on the 2019 season of American Idol. Booth showed off a strong, rootsy style on her independent debut album, 2017's Something New, but after her success on American Idol, she landed a major-label deal and adopted a more polished, pop-influenced sound on 2021's Laci Kaye Booth. Looking for greater creative freedom, she released a moody-sounding single in 2022, "Damn Good in a Dive Bar," which paved the way for the similarly impressionistic 2023 track "Cigarettes."