Emily Hackett’s “Cherry” Is a Reality Check Wrapped in Folk-Pop Warmth

There’s a lot of “positive vibes only” music floating around right now, and most of it feels fake. Emily Hackett’s “Cherry” doesn’t. That’s the difference.

Rooted in folk-pop but emotionally grounded in something much messier, “Cherry” lives in the space between belief and burnout. Hackett isn’t selling enlightenment; she’s documenting the fight to stay present when your brain is running a thousand tabs at once. If you’ve ever tried to meditate while mentally roasting yourself for not “doing it right,” congrats, you’re already in this song.

Musically, “Cherry” leans into warmth without going soft. The production is clean and inviting, letting Hackett’s voice lead without over-polishing it into oblivion. Her vocals feel lived-in, not perfected, like someone singing because they need to, not because they’re chasing a viral moment. You can hear her Laurel Canyon roots in the melodic choices, but there’s also a modern restraint here that keeps the song from slipping into nostalgia cosplay.

Lyrically, “Cherry” works because it doesn’t pretend the doubt ever fully disappears. The verses wrestle with disbelief, frustration, and that early-year pressure to have everything figured out already. The hook, though, is where the shift happens, not a delusional affirmation, but a deliberate reset. Gratitude as an action, not a buzzword. Presence as survival, not aesthetic.

And that metaphor, the cherry? It’s deceptively simple, which is exactly why it lands. Not everything needs to be a cryptic puzzle. Sometimes you just need a stop sign for your brain. Hackett gets that. She’s not preaching from a mountaintop; she’s sitting next to you saying, “Yeah, this part is hard. Keep going anyway.”

What makes “Cherry” matter is its timing. We’re deep in an era of highlight reels, fake healing, and algorithm-approved vulnerability. Hackett cuts through that by being honest about the oscillation, faith one day, grey clouds the next. No filter. No fake arc. Just truth.

“Cherry” isn’t chasing trends. It’s setting the emotional foundation for Must Be Present to Win, and if this track is the catalyst, the full record is shaping up to be less about winning in the external sense and more about staying awake inside your own life.

What does staying present actually look like for you on the days when belief isn’t winning?

Deep breaths. Getting quiet. Getting the hell off my phone. Looking deep into my son’s eyes and knowing he won’t be this little tomorrow. Sometimes it’s getting a good cry out and taking a bath. I don’t have it figured out by any means, but I’m finding my openings and taking them every chance I can.

How did you make sure “Cherry” didn’t turn into a motivational poster instead of an honest song?

It was hard! It took at least one re-write, if not two! My cowriters (Christian Harger and Teddy Reimer) were troopers and really wanted to advocate for it as much as I did, which was validating. We let it get really heady at first and had to bring it back down to being conversational, yet still quirky. Cause really, getting weird helps me maintain my voice and keep it my story as opposed to painting it as a self-help song. Plus, there’s still a lot of doubt in there. I wanted to make it clear I’m still searching. 

What shifted in your writing or in yourself once “Cherry” became the catalyst for Must Be Present to Win

Well, I got pregnant, for one. So, it was eye-opening in the way of just, I gotta stay with it and not wish this time away before life as I know shifts entirely. I gotta trust that everything I need is in front of me. That applied to both my artistry and becoming a mom. And man, both journeys have been a ride, that latter feeling different everyday. So it just kind of framed up what I wanted to say. What I was learning and experiencing.

Has songwriting become a tool for self-regulation for you, not just expression

Oh, 100%. There’s a song on the record that I wrote by myself on the 4th of July when I was spinning out and feeling sorry for myself about the loss of my freedom in this new responsibility. Songwriting does far more for me than therapy does.

What part of this song felt the most uncomfortable to release, and why was it important to keep it in?

“Damage I can’t identify…If doubting myself is a job, I’m working overtime.” That was really vulnerable for me. Cause I often wonder why I am the way I am sometimes when, you know, I don’t come from a Traumatic background. I’m a (mostly) cys-middle-class-white-girl for God’s sake. So, like, why can’t I just be positive and believe I can be whatever I want to be? Being honest about my mental health, despite being “set-up” in life still felt important because there’s gotta be people out there wondering the same thing about themselves.