Making an immediate impact on #TEAMw21 with her debut single is Alyssa Flaherty with "Under The Influence" which a superior first outing well worth investigating. For those wanting some background, Alyssa hails from Annapolis, MD but is now based in Nashville and her voice will feature in a forthcoming Kevin Costner tv series "Horizon: An American Saga,"
The opening to "Under The Influence" is dominated by crisp drumbeat and guitar while a second one somewhat mournfully wails in the background. As Alyssa comes in, her voice is a little downbeat and she wastes little time in letting us know why. The title of the song is of course a play on words and as we initially find Alyssa driving in her car - it is not alcohol that is the root cause of her issues.
"Well I've been driving - a little too close to the lines
I can't stop crying, I shouldn't be on this road tonight
I play that song over and over,
Imagine your arm on my shoulder
So I keep driving under the influence....."
Alyssa's hovers over the word "Influence", letting it elongate before she uses a classic songwriting trick of lyrically leading into the chorus, as a continuation from the verse. It also signals a change in sound, as a veritable explosion of sound kicks in, with the drum and guitars raising their volume considerably matching Alyssa's equally louder vocals.
"Of you and every memory sitting passenger side
And the way you used to kiss me at every traffic light
Yeah you messed me up
Even though I ain’t drunk I’ve been swerving ever since
So I keep driving
Driving under the influence - of you"
Personally he sounds a little annoying, especially in heavy traffic permanently reaching over however we'll gloss over that. The chorus provides the answer behind the meaning of the title, making the point of how both can affect a persons ability to concentrate properly
The second verse sees the sound reduce to previous levels as it reinforces the nature of Alyssa's problem
"Two miles to your favorite bar
But that won't fix this
My head’s still spinning from a broken heart".
In a neat reversal of what happened earlier - Alyssa let's the second chorus lead into the bridge where her predicament is seemingly about to get worse.
"And me In that backseat
Now I’m going 80 in a 50
Red and blue in my rear view
They’d let me go if they only knew"
There's a further later play on words, alluding to the powers of alcohol but relating them to a broken hearted state of mind.
"I’m Hungover on us
Yeah I thought it was love
Now it’s something I can't quit
So I keep driving and driving
Driving under the influence - of you"
It's a neat snappy little debut single, low on gimmicks, high on quality, Alyssa does an excellent job of sounding distracted as she reflects back while driving forward and the lyrical and musical production on this track is abounding with ideas that suggest that there is much more to come from Alyssa.
For those who followed our recommendation to check out the original version we are now blessed with an acoustic version of the same track. It captures all of the intensity of the original despite being stripped of the big band chorus, shining the light purely on Alyssa's vocals which on the chorus have even more of a silky smooth sound as she slides around the melody. Listen to both choose which you prefer then go buy both!!!