One happy side effect of meeting Rachel Grae at The Grace was to bump into the impossibly tall and elegant Jeorgia Rose. She first appeared on our radar with her debut single "I Will Still Remember" where she showed herself to have a great ear for a melody. She also put in a sparkling set at Buckle & Boots 2022, our review said "pretty much faultless and really whetting the appetite for what she might produce going forward!
So it was great to hear that our meeting coincided with the release of a new single "Bad". Jeorgia has the ability to perfectly capture the Nashville sound and phrasing while still sounding distinctly British, This single has just that combination opening to a banjo and pedal steel though when Jeorgia arrives she is resolutely British.
To quote the words of Gregory House MD, "Everybody lies" and it is this concept that Jeorgia has turned into an observational song noting
"Everyone's got laundry, piling on their chair
Stuck their noses in a spot, when it should have not been there
Everyone's got stories with pages they've ripped out, that they don't talk about
So I'm over pretending and I'm over caring
About whose lives look the shiniest"
The chorus in case any of us thought we were immune, only makes it clearer.
"Cause we've all lied and we've all cheated, we're all a little bit conceited
We've all said things that we didn't really mean, we've all done things we've regretted
Kept a secret just to tell it and deemed ourselves trustworthy anyway
Yeah we're all bad at the end of the day"
Jeorgia throughout makes a fine narrator, her tone is knowing though not judgemental as she reveals her home truths to us. The song goes on to make more telling points in the second verse about generally how bad we can all be leaving us with the conclusion
"We're all broken pieces of a puzzle that we're trying to solve
Pretending that we know where we belong"
The song retains an uptempo bouncy feel throughout, making a pure country sound from relatively few instruments that can all be clearly picked out - the simplicity of the sound is what makes it simply perfect,
"Beautiful World" for the opening verse is just Jeorgia and an acoustic guitar as she details a break up, throwing us immediately into the action. This is personal and the restrained backing fits the sombre mood perfectly.
Jeorgia's vocals seem to perfectly hit the right tone of hurt and loss.
"Said he didn't want me anymore Left my old jacket sitting on his porch Picked some shitty wine up from the store I've never felt a loss like that before"
Even in this first verse though there are signs of being able to move on despite whatever happens
"I'm getting good at having no regrets"
The chorus sees Jeorgia address the world as it she were writing a letter as a mechanism to unburden herself of all the frustrations that life can bring, the ying and yang where things can suddenly dramatically change your fortunes and your future for better of for worse - she signs off as being "One messy girl"
"Beautiful world you hurt sometimes How can I be happy then hopeless then hopeful then terrified? 'Cause right when you take a step It seems like you lose all that you got left Signed one messy girl"
The second verse musically speeds up with the arrival of some electronica percussion as once again Jeorgia draws on experiences both good and bad to realise that true friendship is a greater plus than the negatives of temporary setbacks no matter how much they may hurt at the time.
"Lost my wallet on the way to work I spilled coffee on my favourite shirt I fell out of love and damn it hurt He was special 'cause he was the first Still got my high school best friend And she comes home on the weekends Through all the years she's been a godsend That's all that matters really in the end"
Midway through the second chorus sees the sound builds further with a real band replacing the more robotic elements to great effect.
The final revelation is the acceptance that life is ever changing and that the only thing to do is to keep pushing forward and see what it brings taking each day as an adventure.
"And I've been thinking about it lately
How every day begins to change me
And even when it gets so scary
I'm jumping in head first"
The final chorus is mainly a return to just Jeorgia and an acoustic guitar for the most tenderest of deliveries.
These are two excellent singles to add to a growing repertoire that has no blemishes that we can see.