Braden Bales Releases New Emotional Ballad “You Lied”
Today, singer and songwriter Braden Bales, unleashes his searing new single, “YOU LIED”, out now via Capitol Records. The track is a visceral dissection of betrayal and fractured trust that arrives ahead of his upcoming EP, 5 STAGES OF GRIEF. which is set to release this summer. “YOU LIED” dives straight into the raw aftermath of betrayal, capturing the tension between nostalgia and heartbreak. Braden Bales navigates the track with sincere, candid lyrics, exploring the lingering feelings of loss and mistrust after a relationship crumbles. The song taps into the themes of grief, depression, and self-discovery, previewing the emotional depth that fans can expect on this next project.
“I wrote YOU LIED when I heard my ex’s music that painted our relationship in a bad light. We had a really bittersweet ending and it broke me to hear her talk negatively about everything we had and what being with me was like. “YOU LIED” represents the depression stage of grief in my breakup and it’s written about the most painful part of this process.”
– Braden Bales
Braden Bales has had a remarkable year so far as he just finished his first headlining tour and now, he joined American singer / songwriter Livingston on his North American The Story Continues tour, which kicked off last week. The tour will be making major stops in cities including New York, Los Angeles, Nashville, Atlanta and more – additional information on the tour can be found HERE. Without a doubt, Braden Bales’ delivery on his music oscillates between raw vulnerability and undeniable real-life storytelling that anybody can relate to and connect with.
About Braden Bales:
With a style defined by self-reflection and unfiltered storytelling, 22-year-old Braden Bales is quickly emerging as one of music’s most compelling new voices. Since the breakout success of his 2023 single “CHRONICALLY CAUTIOUS” ( released via Geffen Records) Bales’ steady rise to prominence has been bolstered by his distinctive balance of ear-catching sounds with emotionally transparent subject matter. Working across guitar-textured strains of pop, rock, and indie, Bales lyrically bares his heart in hooky frameworks that linger in listeners’ minds long after his songs expire. And while most would consider his striking candor a courageous creative choice, for Bales, it’s not so much a choice as it is a requisite for authentic self-expression.
“I’m confessing how I feel in my music, and that’s important for people to know,” he says. “My music is not some cookie cutter expression of something that is intended to be purely commercial.”
Even so, early commercial appeal — and success — has followed. “CHRONICALLY CAUTIOUS,” generated over 50,000 TikTok views the evening it landed and has since amassed more than 46 million Spotify streams. Its follow-up single, “ME MYSELF AND YOU,” logged upwards of 2 million streams on the platform — another early testament to his music’s resonance. Along the way, Bales, who originally signed with Geffen Records but now continues his artistic journey with Capitol Records, dropped two EPs in between tours in 2023. The respective projects, NOMAD, his debut EP, and CATALYST, further solidified his sound.
The Oakville, Ontario-born artist, now based in Los Angeles, is at a pivotal point in his burgeoning career that heralds the release of his most cohesive and deeply personal project to date, 5 STAGES OF GRIEF. The EP signals his increasing shift towards full creative autonomy, with Bales — who holds a degree in audio engineering —credited as a co-producer. Conceptually, the project centers on the five stages of grief, with each song representing a stage. Sonically, it maintains his confessional songwriting style but channels more of a live band feel than his past releases, culminating in a more mature and organic offshoot of his sound.