Guest contributor: Bob Cannon
Being raised near Santa Cruz, CA, Taylor Rae is the thoughtful type. Being based in Austin, she’s also the songwriter type—to which these 12 evocative originals attest. On MAD TWENTIES, Rae charts the course of her personal growth through that turbulent decade with aching intimacy, all delivered in a powerful voice that invites comparisons to Maren Morris, Sheryl Crow and Bonnie Raitt. The first single, the Norah Jones-like “Fixer Upper,” glides along in a sensual, languid groove with wry turns of phrase such as “Let me be your broken lover / I know you like a fixer upper.” She declares her independence over the greasy R&B and Country flavor of “Home on the Road” as she wails, “Let your dreaming mind free your wandering soul.”
“Sink or Swim” finds Rae deftly describing romantic ambivalence: “So honey tell me why it is that we fall away / I will do my best to choose to love you anyway.” Her journey of self-discovery peaks with the slow groove of “Wait and See,” where she arrives at the hard-won conclusion that “I gotta do this on my own / Even if that means letting you go.” With such skillful lyrical economy, Rae sounds like anything but a newcomer. Rather, this is a fully mature artist who knows who she is on a stunning debut.
MAD TWENTIES will release this Friday, October 1. Pre-Save here.
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