Late last year we wrote about Annie DiRusso, a Nashville-based songwriter who utilises an indie rock style to “balance quiet intimacy and cathartic choruses.” The single, ‘Dead Dogs,’ introduced this aesthetic, managing to be both hugely emotional and sweepingly empowering, while also retaining a playful edge. The result was a song capable of taking on huge themes with the most personal tones. As we continued, the song:
[got] at the trauma at the heart of what this society expects of us, how we must keep calm and carry on despite the earth-shattering changes, both figurative and literal, that are happening all around.
Ahead of her debut full-length which is expected sometime in 2021 DiRusso is back with a brand new single, ’20’. As sincere as ever, the track is a coming-of-age anthem for an anxious generation, caught between the comforts of childhood and pressures ahead, not to mention the crushing expectations and preconceptions of the present. But true to DiRusso’s style, this anxiety is balanced by an unapologetic streak too. A steadfast knowledge sitting hard and bright beneath the surface worries that it is okay to be this way, that there is no right way to live. The result is a heart-on-the-sleeve portrayal of what it’s like to be young, where one’s own desires to develop and grow must be measured against those unfair and unhealthy suggestions from the outside.
I’m not ready to go
I’m ready to grow
So bad at being alone
I’m almost 20 years old
Photos by Olivia Anzalone