“As someone with anxiety, I always want to know what’s going to happen. But knowing can be limiting. Getting comfortable with the uncomfortable, that’s growth.” So explains songwriter Kassi Valazza on the main theme that underpins her forthcoming record, On Newman Street, out next month via Fluff & Gravy Records and Loose Music. Written and recorded between her former home of Portland and new one New Orleans, and named with a wistful fondness for the apartment she left behind, the record is about shaking off stagnation and having the courage to make a fresh start.
Latest single ‘Shadow of Lately’ is a good example, a track that ruminates on the sense of restlessness that creeps in with the repetitions of life and home. The song finds Valazza still in Portland during a period of self-imposed isolation. “Much of my last year living in Portland was spent walking through neighborhoods and keeping to myself,” she explains. “After going through a difficult breakup from a five year relationship, I found it hard to go out and be social. Keeping up with people became harder and I slowly found myself alone in my basement apartment, fearing the outside world, especially during the darker months of winter.”
If you are unfamiliar with the music of Kassi Valazza, we have previously described it as “bear[ing] all the hallmarks of the best retro tracks while refusing to fall for nostalgic imitation,” drawing on a rich lineage of folk and country songwriters while keeping things fresh. ‘Shadow of Lately’ is no exception, golden-hued and breezy despite the pangs of anxiety that lick at its edges. Opening with gentle acoustic guitar and Valazza’s distinctively timeless vocals, it soon blossoms into a mid-tempo country song complete with electric guitar and pedal steel.
