My Instagram Reels algorithm served me up a couple of Nashville singer-songwriters on what I assume is the come up. Who knows in the current music landscape? Both have two very DIY looking videos that have garnered many plays from me over the past few weeks.
A.G. Sully has a trip-hoppy sound straight out of the 90’s. They have a beautifully layered, whispery voice, with simple but effective synths, and a drum loop that keeps the beat while staying out of the way. The production has a soothing ethereal quality that made it easy for me to leave on repeat several times on several days.
Emma Ogier’s track has an incredible hook that was built for Instagram. It feels like the kind of hook that makes a montage hit just right in a movie about angsty Appalachian teenagers doing bored teenager stuff.
She delivers lyrics with a subdued Southern twang that I can’t tell if she’s trying to hide, slowly fading from childhood, or she’s reaching for on purpose. Either way, it’s very effective. The dreary and damp back yard in the video, complete with an orphaned car door and fent-folding trees, might as well be from one of my own memories. I’m reminded of happier times when I was the saddest I’ve ever been.