Here’s a roundup of three new singles by local artists that caught our ears.
Slow Funeral: ‘Purple Roses’
Singer-songwriter Mary Norris’ new song “Purple Roses” released under Morris’ musical alias, Slow Funeral, starts off with a beautifully muted arrangement that lends color and weight to lines like “Am I happy?/ Is this what family feels like?” before exploding into a cathartic, anthemic climax.
The lyrics detail Morris’ journey to finding acceptance not just within herself but within her inner circle.
“It’s about finding your chosen family through your community and your friends,” Norris says. “I was living with a couple of my best friends at the time that I wrote it. Through their acceptance and love I was able to see what it feels like to be taken care of, where I might not have experienced that before.”
Kylie Odetta: ‘Real Love’
In the opening lines of Kylie Odetta’s infectious new single, “Real Love,” she happily remembers, “standing on my father’s old shoes/ Dancing round the kitchen mama praying for you.”
“The verse is a nod to childhood dreams and prayers being fulfilled and the wistful and nostalgic memories shared with my own parents as a young girl,” Odetta says. “The song is all about finally finding the person whom your soul loves and connects with.”
The song, from Odetta’s EP “Grown,” moves from a spare acoustic arrangement to a surprisingly heavy chorus anchored by one of the biggest beats Odetta has ever used, something she wasn’t planning when she wrote the song.
“You have one idea for a song and suddenly you’re going in a totally different direction,” she says. “The vision was sweet and soft, the execution was anthemic and epic. The song takes you where it wants to go.”
Brooke Ashton: ‘Someone’
Brooke Ashton’s lovely new single “Someone” is based on a couple of simple premises that resonate universally: We all need someone, and we all are someone.
The song was inspired by a tragedy in Ashton’s life, but it began before the tragedy even occurred.
“The day before a friend passed away, I got the first line of the song,” Ashton says. “And after I learned he passed, I tried to craft a song around the idea that we’re all people; we’re all doing this thing called life and we need to be more aware and show more compassion toward one another, even if we don’t understand.”
On the surface, the music could easily be identified as country, but there are rustic Appalachian mandolins and strings in the background.
“I definitely feel like my music has elements of folk, Americana, country, bluegrass and some indie singer-songwriter vibes,” Ashton says.
