While pink cowboy hats and Durango’s not yet broken in seem like they rule the roost in Music City, dusty vans and worn-in leather jackets play just as big a role in comeuppance and stardom for so many in Nashville. For every Brooks & Dunn cover band vying for their chance at the Opry, there’s a million indie darlings growing like weeds on the sidewalks of Broadway. With that, let’s have a look at some of Nashville’s hottest up and comers and the new chapters they’re writing for this storied city.
“findaway” – Arlie
It’s really hard to pin down any descriptors to Arlie’s discography that doesn’t just tell you what you already know — they’re unicorns. Their 2022 album “Break the Curse” crackled with nostalgia while breathing new life into indie’s greatest influences almost simultaneously.
Their songwriting, while disparate in style and subject, bring the same forms of intimacy into the booth. Contrasted with how bombastic their accompaniment can get at times, it makes for a combination that’s scale feels like it massively outweighs its purpose in the same way the condition of youth does almost constantly. It’s cinematic level grandeur for ordinary strife, which is exactly the trend their latest single follows.
“Findaway” has the emotional haphazardness of an early 2000’s teen movie while somehow backdropped by a sound that feels like it belongs in a Disney show about dog sledding. And the weirdest part is, the mesh is still seamless. It’s a testament to whatever creative juices are in the water cooler over at Atlantic Records, because whatever it is an ingredient the rest of the indie scene doesn’t seem to be familiar with yet.
It’s bold and flamboyant yet tossed in intimacy that makes it feel like a meal made just for you. If “findaway” is any indicator on the thematic parameters of their next feature length project, their sonic sandbox may be getting an upgrade.
“Let Your Love Be Enough” – Legit Smitty
Legit Smitty’s southern charm is one that comes with a twinge of exhaustion in its drawl. He almost feels like a premature iteration of Gregory Alan Isakov in prose and cadence.
Audibly soft, heavy in his pathos and an arrangement that has consistency that practically doubles as stasis. It’s a soft current of the creek slowly pulling you into moments of rest and reflection you didn’t know you needed. It’s isolating not only as a listener, but for Smitty as well. Dwelling on moments of solitude in pools of acoustics designed to hypnotize, Smitty’s main goal seems to be getting as disconnected as possible.
Contrary to scenes that responded to the pandemic with their bids for being the soundtrack to the post-COVID-19 party, “Let Your Love Be Enough” brings a more reflective than celebratory look to whatever adjective you use to describe the modern world we live in.
Despite what indie bands in bedazzled unitards or rap beats that border on steampunk may tell you, music doesn’t always have to be escapism. As a matter of fact, it shouldn’t be.
“Can’t complain cause you know my name, but otherwise you don’t know a thing,” croons our countryside bard on the record’s title track, only really solidifying that notion of being truly alone. It’s as dissatisfied with adulthood as Midwest emo, yet as endearing in its invitation for you to feel the same as a lonesome folk singer on a porch swallowed by the boondocks. Reflection placed above progression seems to be Legit Smitty’s bread and butter, let’s just hope we can learn as much as he has from it.
“Hard Love” – YEARB4
Coming off their debut single “Southern California” you might suspect that this quartet is one dead set on emulating that post-modern West Coast angst The Neighborhood capitalized on in the early 2010’s.
Their newest project, “Hard Love,” begs to differ. It’s hard rock advocating for anticipation on a level of stage-setting akin to a commercial cutaway song on Monday Night Football. Frontman Lucas Blair’s alternative vocal styles still bleed out the project’s pores, creating an interesting dynamic that’s both freshly squeezed with the faintest hints of something more aged.
It’s a punch packed with adrenaline for the four feature tracks, with “Hard Love Interlude” gearing up like that first drop on a roller coaster for the project’s finale, “Cowboys Like Disco.” Guitar licks that mimic some of Poison’s most notorious party tracks of the 80’s seem to just be the starting point for this group and their musical efforts. The classic rock influence is easy enough to pick out, Blair’s influences seem to be littered with Van Halen shred-a-thons and Robert Plant’s screeches of melodic genius.
Where things start to get interesting is how well those cited sources seem to blend with the gloss of modernity YEARB4 has going for them. Rob Zombie intensity matched with a precision in production found on any high-end pop record released in the last decade makes for a rock and roll project that feels just as fresh as it does familiar. For YEARB4, the sky seems to be the limit as long as they keep trusting their ears and instincts.
