Paisley Fields wants to know — in stretched out audio, in hyperpop gibberish, in plain voice, and in song — Are U Mad At Me?

He's kidding, of course. Because it's obviously easier to giggle and keep things fun and flirty, lest someone lets life get a little too real.

But somewhere in the fields and the farms and the line dances of rural Iowa, the ghosts of Fields' scared, closeted childhood are still wondering…

Are U Mad At Me, due out May 1, 2026 via Don Giovanni Records, marks a huge, cowboy boot-wearing step for the Brooklyn-based songwriter. Fields proves that genre is as fluid as sexuality, as the album saunters across country, pop, disco, grunge, and classical with ease. Across 12 tracks, Fields traverses bangers like power pop lead single "Party Girl" and two-stepping second single "Hands Off The Hat" (co-written with Grammy award-winning songwriter Melody Walker) all the way to tragic ballads like "Apalachicola to Tallahassee" (co-written with Karen Pittelman of Karen & The Sorrows) and the closing "Uncle Charlie's."

Are U Mad At Me arrives at a pivotal time in the roots music scene. Fields, now rapidly becoming one of New York City's queer country leaders — through his East Village Cxntry Club residency at Lucinda Williams' new honky tonk and his mentorship work with The Recording Academy — has been working tirelessly for this moment for more than a decade. Performing under this moniker since 2013, Fields has released three LPs and two EPs. He's recorded on queer country pioneers Lavender Country's 2022 reunion album, Blackberry Rose, and served as the band's touring pianist. His 2023 protest duet with Mya Byrne, "Burn This Statehouse Down," made it onto NPR music critic Ann Powers' list of favorite songs of the year.

As Fields says, "At the end of the day, I just want to make people feel a little bit lighter, like they are healing."