Jacob Hackworth sets his debut EP What Took You So Long for October 23

Jacob Hackworth will release his debut EP, What Took You So Long, on October 23 through MCA and Goat Island Sound. The seven songs are arranged as a chronological account of the breakup that pushed him toward Nashville in the first place.

The title track is already working at country radio, currently sitting in the top 40. Hackworth wrote the project alongside Jaxson Free, Josh Phillips, Jessie Jo Dillon, Daniel Ross and others, with Free credited on three of the seven songs.

He described the record as the most full-circle thing he has done. He said he did not set out to write a breakup project, that it came together naturally, and that there is something poetic about telling that story first, given it was the reason he moved to Nashville to chase a recording career.

The lesson he draws from it is unsentimental. He said the hardest things happen the way they do for a reason, that he would give getting dumped zero out of ten as a recommendation, and that it put him where he was supposed to be.

I Wanna Quit previews the EP. Hackworth said it was written at a writers camp in May, that the room knew immediately it worked, and that they cut it almost straight away to avoid overthinking it. He wrote it with Free, Heath Warren and Tyler Dopps.

The rest of the running order takes in Bad As I Do, Last Night I Got Lonely, First Friday Night, Help Yourself and Mess That Marlboro Made, with credits spread across Chris Tompkins, Steph Jones, Gabe Foust, Jordan Schmidt and Matt Roy.

He is on the road with Tucker Wetmore for a third run together before joining Zach John King this autumn. The EP is on the release calendar for October 23, and Wetmore has had a strong country year of his own, including a third No. 1 with Brunette.