Let me start by saying that I’m not much of an Americana fan. Sure, I like the Jayhawks, Uncle Tupelo, and a few others… but if given a choice to listen to a handful of genres, Americana wouldn’t be in the top three. So when a friend told me to listen to BettySoo’s new album If You Never Go Away, I was skeptical… in fact, I was downright resistant. He even positioned it by saying she’s known as “Queen of the Bummer Jam” so, given my predilection towards the dark and depressing, my eyebrow perked. And when presented with a challenge (especially something as easy as listening to a record), I take it.
So, I am here to swallow my words and probably apologize to all the Americana records I never listened to because I was a hipster asshole.
If You Never Go Away is phenomenal. Actually, let me restate that. If You Never Go Away is phenomenal x2. With a voice like honey… like a less-snarky Tanya Donnelly (of Belly) with a Texas twang, BettySoo hits all the right notes, complementing the stellar musicianship.
From the getgo, the opening track “What Do You Want From Me Now?” is undeniable. You have to be dead and cremated (and deaf) to not love this song. She kicks it off pleading, “Tell me, baby / What do you want from me now?” like she’s tugging at your sleeve, begging you to stay… and that’s the first indication that this record is going to be a ten-tissue affair. Songs about breakups, relationship troubles, and the such… yeah, she earned that “Queen of the Bummer Jam” title well.
The shuffle beat of “Things Are Gonna Get Worse” and Al Gamble’s wailing B3 organ really hits you right in the gut… and from the title of the song, I guess you can tell what the song is about, but if you want some reinforcement of your Spidey sense, take a gander at the lyrics: “Don’t hold no hope in the soul of man / Don’t put no trust in tomorrow’s plans / People still fighting for the promised land / Don’t you know we’re all sinking down?”
On the surface, “Light It Up” sounds like a shitkicking tune with a chorus that is begging for a dive bar singalong… but then you listen to the words. And the “shitkicking” transforms to a different meaning. Like someone eavesdropping to different relationship goings-on, she sings, “Now someone’s screaming, someone’s crying / Someone in the next room hears love dying / Cheap motels offer so much to set aflame.” Heavy stuff for such a lighthearted melody.
“Lovering” breaks away from the sad-sack pack… Not about a doomed relationship (unless, like in my own relationships, I don’t see the cracks forming), “Lovering” is a gorgeous song worthy of Fleetwood Mac. Instead of a break up song, it’s that conversation when you’re picking up the broken plates, the overturned table, the flowers trampled underfoot. “I will gather all these scattered / Pieces of you I’m just discovering / I will gather all these scattered / Tokens of your love, love, lovering.”
I wasn’t an Americana fan before I heard BettySoo’s If You Never Go Away, and I don’t think I was transformed into one. But one transformation that is for sure: I am now a fan of BettySoo.
