Brennen Leigh Don’t You Ever Give Up On Love
Brennen Leigh can do just about anything, and on her new record, she’s usually able to get it done in under three minutes. Don’t You Ever Give Up On Love is 12 tight, cleverly quippy songs laced with heartache and wrapped in gorgeous, old-school Texas country music.
Before that heartache, though, we get the resilience of the title track, which leads off the record. A song started by Elijah Ocean and passed on to Leight to finish, it’s a swingin’ tune that celebrates, at long last, finding love – “Now I’m thankful each day I did not get my way” – while preparing us for the roster of less likable characters to follow. We meet the first one in “Dumpster Diving,” a honky-tonker laced with barroom piano from Damian O’Grady, about a guy who fails to see the good he’s got – “I made you pretty picnics with all the things we grew/But you said you weren’t hungry, then I found out that you were going/Dumpster diving.”
While most of the characters across Don’t You Ever Give Up On Love are typical loveless louts – the guy sneaking about in “Tell Me,” the man who can’t stay still in “Texas Tumbleweed” – “A Reason to Drink” touches upon a more serious issue; chasing bad love with booze. It’s a merry-go-round of misery, with the guy drowning his sorrows over an emotionally unavailable woman, while Leigh portrays a woman throwing her life away on the drinker – “The thing you’re really craving, I’m missing it I think/I don’t give you a reason to drink.” But Leigh’s lovelorn alter ego bounces back to find what she needs in the penultimate track. The waltzy “I’m Easy To Love After All,” featuring gorgeous pedal steel from producer Kevin Skrla, throws away the losers as she finally finds that one winner – “I did not realize/That I was a prize.” Not giving up on love, for Leigh, pays off.
Song I Can’t Wait to Hear Live: “Little Magic Wolf” – I had the chance to see Leigh debut many of these songs during her AmericanaFest showcase at Skinny Dennis last month, but this Southwestern-flavored instrumental (and last song on the record) has Leigh picking up an electric guitar for the only time on this album while also showing off her excellent band.
Don’t You Ever Give Up On Love was produced and engineered by Kevin Skrla and mastered by Alex McCollough. All songs by Brennen Leigh, with co-writes going to Elijah Ocean, Alex Miller, Mary Bragg and Dean Fields. Musicians on the album include Leigh (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar), Skrla (pedal steel guitar, tic tac bass, electric guitar), Dave Biller (electric guitar), Josh Hoag (upright bass), Jason Baczynski (drums), Matty Meyer (drums), Damian O’Grady (piano) and Katie Shore (fiddle).
Go here to order Don’t You Ever Give Up On Love (out now): https://brennenleigh.bandcamp.com/album/dont-you-ever-give-up-on-love
Check out tour dates here: https://www.brennenleigh.net/tour
Enjoy our previous coverage here: REVIEW: Brennen Leigh “Ain’t Through Honky Tonkin’ Yet”
