When reviewing Donna Marie's recent single "Falling Through The Cracks" we mentioned that this years Buckle & Boots Festival was positively awash with Songwriter Rounds and that one of our favourites occurred on the Sunday lunchtime where the disparate members of the Songs & Stories Collective got a chance to play together, in the same place at the same time rather than virtually.
Now it is time for a second piece of the Collective to issue a single with Tennessee Twin releasing "Fit To Love". The title really gives little clue as to what the contents of the song might be, however the cover with the heart constructed from rusty looking barbed wire suggests that things might not be going well.
Taking its inspiration from a real life friend, we find Victoria being the narrator, in a relationship with someone who projects one persona when out "Holding court at some run down bar" yet takes on a far darker one when he returns to the family residence. The home atmosphere is clearly alluded to in the first verse, especially in the venom of the final line.
"That crystal flower vase, just jumped right off the shelf
You never laid a hand on it, is what you’ll tell yourself
The plain white kitchen door with a hole the goes right through
Must have been the dog, cause it never could be you
When I hear you shouting from the room below
I’m cursing that first time you said "Hello""
This is sung powerfully by Victoria over a mix of drums and a brooding dark guitar line that increases in intensity as it approaches the chorus. The chorus acts as an opportunity for Victoria to unleash her true feelings and ends with the withering put down "there ain’t an ounce of you that’s fit to love". It also sees the arrival of a deep moody organ sound.
The second verse is all the more powerful for being lyrically restrained, it also suggests that man in question was not brought up in a similar way and so has no excuse ( not that there is one ) for his behaviour.
"I bet that look of love upon your Momma’s face
Would crumble pretty fast if she saw your fall from grace
If she saw the clear delight you take in crushing me"
The final coup de grace is delivered at the bridge, as Victoria pronounces the verdict on how their respective futures will pan out
"I bet you think I’ll fall?
Come begging cup in hand?
Well here’s some news for you
It ain’t lonely where I stand"
If this represents the start of a new outlook from Tennessee Twin, then it's a great beginning, there is a definite overall band feeling in the playing, with Tim Slater adding in a lively Guns & Roses style guitar solo, while the attention to detail on Victoria's backing vocals in the choruses suggests time well spent in the studio.
With this being the first of an expected run of singles from Tennessee Twin, along with additional developments due from The Songs & Stories Collective - there is still plenty to come from Geoff & Victoria in 2023.
"Fit To Love" is available to pre-save / pre-order now