TRACK REVIEW: Courtney Marie Andrews - It Must Be Someone Else's Fault

TRACK REVIEW:

Courtney Marie Andrews

It Must Be Someone Else's Fault

9.4/10

The track, It Must Be Someone Else's Fault, is available from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueCQX67wHYo

GENRES:

Indie/Country/Americana

ORIGIN:

Arizona, U.S.A.

LABEL:

Fat Possum Records

RELEASE DATE:

27th May, 2020

The album, Old Flowers, is released on 24th July, 2020 through Loose Music. Pre-order here:

https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/courtney-marie-andrews/old-flowers

TRACKLISTING:

1. Burlap String

2. Guilty

3. If I Told

4. Together or Alone

5. Carnival Dream

6. Old Flowers

7. Break the Spell

8. It Must Be Someone Else’s Fault

9. How You Get Hurt

10. Ships in the Night

__________

IT has been enjoyable writing reviews…

PHOTO CREDIT: Lindsey Grace Whiddon

over various weekends, as it allows me a chance to delve deep into a particular song/artist. Other sites are putting out reviews which are quite brief, but I do prefer to be expansive and look at more than just the song itself. In the case of Courtney Marie Andrews, there is a lot of fascinating stuff that I want to look into; I will come to her new song, It Must Be Someone Else’s Fault, but I am relatively new to Andrews and her music. The first subject I want to look at is Andrews’ upbringing and her early life. The American songwriter has come a log way over the past few years, and I am fascinated seeing how she started out and which artists have moved her. When she spoke with Songwriting Magazine in 2018, we learned more about her rise and formative years:

“Hailing from Phoenix, Arizona, award-winning singer-songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews is an authentic voice in the flourishing Americana scene. With a sound that has elements of folk, country, indie-folk – and, more recently, gospel, R ‘n’ B and soul on latest album May Your Kindness Remain – her emotionally raw songs and honest heartfelt lyrics have received major acclaim including winning International Artist of the Year at the 2018 Americana UK Awards.

Having toured extensively over the past decade since leaving her hometown at 16, Courtney has been a backing singer and session guitarist for established artists, including Damien Jurado and Jimmy Eat World and brought out a number of solo releases since 2008. The self-produced Honest Life, released in 2016 was a breakthrough record earning widespread critical acclaim. Recalling the classic troubadours of the past, the album’s 10 songs are full of beautiful arrangements, exemplary confessional storytelling and tender emotion.

How did you discover your gift for songwriting?

“I’ve always really loved literature and poetry. It’s funny because as a kid I liked both writing. I wanted to be both an author and I wanted to be a singer and I didn’t realise that you could both in one career. When I found that out it was really, really nice.”

Your songs have that timeless storytelling quality of the great songwriters from the Laurel Canyon era. Who were your music heroes growing up? Any there any particular songs or records from that period you admire?

“Pretty much all my biggest heroes are the songwriters; Joni Mitchell and Lucinda Williams. I mean Blue, of course, is like one of the all-time records and obviously Neil Young has a handful of really incredible records. Carly Simon. [Carole King’s seminal album] Tapestry. There are so many classic records I’m inspired by”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Kendall Rock

I do not want to take too much from others when giving my opinions on Courtney Marie Andrews, but there are some great interviews around, and she is a brilliant artist that warrants deeper exploration and affection. It is that start in life and earlier years that really interests me. I think we all sort of take artists for granted and assume that they grew up in quite comfortable and ordinary circumstances. When reading an interview Andrews gave to FADER in 2018, it is amazing to think of what Andrews went through and how her life changed at a young age:

“Andrews grew up outside of Phoenix, Arizona with her mom, who worked two jobs, and a rotating cast of cousins. Early on, she learned a lot about the relationship between mental illness and poverty; she’s lost several family members to suicide. “I’ve always known I was a feminist,” she says. “Then a girlfriend in middle school introduced me to riot grrrl.” Andrews’s first band was called Massacre in a Miniskirt; they debuted live in a carport. “I was the one in the band who’d come with full songs written, and someone said that, stripped-down, they sounded folk-y,” she recalls. “I thought folk was boring old people music, then I realized it’s a platform to tell stories, emotionally and politically. Then I was like, ‘This is my music — I never knew’”.

Although Andrews is in her late-twenties now, she has been in the music industry for a while, and she had that passionate and determination as a teenager. Not only was Courtney Marie Andrews’ childhood quite challenging at times; it seems like some of her earliest gigs and touring days were quite difficult. Taking from this article at the Killing Moon website in 2018, I smiled at a question Andrews was asked about a tour she embarked upon at the age of sixteen:

“KM: At the tender age of sixteen you embarked on your first tour, even sleeping under bridges to make ends meet. What was that like?

C: Those years were pretty magical because it wasn’t a business. It was an adventure, and I was still so young with so much to learn about music. I wouldn’t trade those years for anything. They still cling to my core and define me in a lot of ways. The free-ness of the open road, and the endless well of friends and stories. They taught me how to be a road warrior and how to be grateful for whatever opportunities come my way”.

It is wonderful seeing how far Andrews has come and how hard she has worked! America has changed rapidly over the past few days, and riots have been happening all over the country. After the murder of George Floyd, we have seen so much anger and disgust. Floyd’s murder once again brought the problem of racism to the fore; a man who was killed for no other reasons beside the fact that he was black. I mention this, as Courtney Marie Andrews has always written about hope in her song, even when her country is being led by the disreputable Donald Trump. I wonder how she is reacting to the current situation, especially in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis. Her previous studio album, May Your Kindness Remain, discussed the idea of big dreams and hopes in an America that battles with poverty and struggle. In this interview with The Telegraph, Andrews discussed hopefulness and struggle in America:

“There’s a prominent stamp of hopefulness in America, even in the midst of poverty and depression,” she says. “I mean, that sounds really sad but it’s like a lot of Americans have these larger-than-life dreams. I see it in my family, and the places I tour. It’s double-edged. So many people buying lottery tickets, or getting addicted to the casino, like one day they’ll have all this money and it will solve everything. And somehow forgetting the values that already make them rich, which are kindness and love. There’s a kind of shadow culture, that I guess Trump represents, an illusion that distracts us from what we really want out of life”.

Andrews has a new album, Old Flowers, out very soon, and I wonder whether there will be a lot of reaction to the continued controversy of Donald Trump and how, in 2020, there is this ambition among a lot of Americans to escape a harder life and dream big. I mention her previous album, as it was celebrated, and it is a moving and profound record that has almost taken on greater relevance a couple of years later.

May Your Kindness Remain, I feel, is an album that seems more powerful this week than it did back in 2018; like Andrews knew that things in America would intensify and Trump would not make any real progress and radical change! When she spoke with FADER , Andrews talked about the compassionate spirit against adversity and trouble. It is almost, in a way, like she was discussing America during the war of The Great Depression. Instead, this was a reflection on modern politics and a divide running through her nation, where one of the world’s most powerful humans was leading the country in an awfully bad way:

“Ultimately, Andrews says May Your Kindness Remain is about loving through depression in the age of Donald Trump. “Border,” the oldest song on the new record, is inspired by former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a bigot and sadist who Andrews used to protest against in Phoenix. She’s also influenced by Hillbilly Elegy, the memoir of crisis-stricken Appalachia that made J.D. Vance an in-demand explainer of impoverished whites’ attraction to Trump. Not that her style is so didactic; “Two Cold Nights in Buffalo” is about how municipal disinvestment destroys communities, but it lures listeners with a rich, seemingly apolitical stanza: “Stuck in nickel city on the tainted side of a coin / El Niño brought a blizzard, Greyhound brought a boy”.

There are lots of things to love about Courtney Marie Andrews, but I listen back to her albums – especially May Your Kindness Remain -, and I adore her observations and the characters we find in her song. I have not mentioned genre and her style of music, but it sort of sits between Country and Americana. In that spirit, Andrews reflects ordinary, everyday America in extraordinary detail. You listen to her songs and they are so vivid and rich. The song I am about to review, It Must Be Someone Else’s Fault, has these wonderful lyrics and this sense of immersion, and I think Old Flowers will follow from May Your Kindness Remain in its narratives and lyrical nature.

I want to nod, as I will a few more times, back to Andrews’ previous album and how incredible it was. In her interview with The Telegraph, we discover more about Andrews’ style and how she approaches songwriting:

“Andrews has a gift for building character and narrative through everyday observations on such affecting songs as Two Cold Nights in Buffalo, Rough Around the Edges and I’ve Hurt Worse. “You can find songs anywhere. I look for stories in my family and the people I meet. I feel better every time I write a song. It’s sort of this balancing mechanism for my mind.” She doesn’t think of herself as a political writer, though, more a chronicler of “the downhome America” that she loves. “You always have to have a little bit of yourself in something for it to be real. If you’re just pulling things out of a hat people can tell it’s forced. I feel like audiences know if you’re being honest.”

Andrews is a major talent, in this for the long haul. “I’m an old man when it comes to music,” she says, citing the influence of Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, John Prine and Neil Young. “Songs don’t have a gender,” she says, though she is also a huge fan of Lucinda Williams, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon. She feels she has suffered from sexism and chauvinism throughout her career, and is thrilled about the #MeToo movement. “I’ve been hit on in inappropriate ways, in working situations, like it was just to be expected. I’ve been talked down to for so long, you barely even notice. But finally, I think there’s been an awakening of the collective consciousness. Change is happening. It’s pretty cool”.

There are a couple of other subjects I want to strike off the list before I get to reviewing Andrews’ new track. There is a new album on its way, and I was keen to discover more about this hotly-anticipated release. I am a big fan of May Your Kindness Remain, so I was eager to know what inspired Old Flowers and how it differs from its predecessor. In this article, we discover more about the forthcoming record:

“Created in the aftermath of a long-term relationship, Old Flowers features Andrews’ most vulnerable writing to date on ten new songs that chronicle her journey through heartbreak, loneliness and finding herself again after it all. Produced by Andrew Sarlo (Bon Iver, Big Thief), the album was recorded at Sound Space Studio and features only three musicians: Andrews (vocals, acoustic guitar, piano), Twain’s Matthew Davidson (bass, celeste, mellotron, pedal steel, piano, pump organ, wurlitzer, background vocals) and Big Thief’s James Krivchenia (drums, percussion). Already receiving critical acclaim, MOJO Magazine declares, “With the voice of Linda Ronstadt and the songwriting gifts of Joni Mitchell, there simply isn’t anything to dislike about Old Flowers”

It seems that Old Flowers, as the title suggests, is about loving people who have been in your life a while; people you cannot be with. Whereas a lot of mainstream artists describe love in a very cliched and unambitious manner, Andrews has this incredible talent, as she can make subjects of love, desire, and loss sound fresh and completely hypnotic. I cannot wait to hear Old Flowers, as it sounds like it is shaping up to be one of Andrews’ most moving and brilliant works. Alongside producer Andrew Sarlo, it seems like we are in for a real treat! This Rolling Stone article reveals more about Old Flowers’ themes and how it differs from May Your Kindness Remain:

“Old Flowers is about heartbreak,” she says. “There are a million records and songs about that, but I did not lie when writing these songs. This album is about loving and caring for the person you know you can’t be with. It’s about being afraid to be vulnerable after you’ve been hurt. It’s about a woman who is alone, but okay with that, if it means truth. This was my truth this year — my nine-year relationship ended and I’m a woman alone in the world, but happy to know herself.”

Sarlo added, “Before we got to the studio, we agreed to prioritize making this record as cathartic and minimal as possible — focusing on Courtney’s voice and her intention behind the songs. Because of this, the record is all about performance. I believe a great recording is the chemistry between everything during basics and the ability to feel something happening instead of obsessing over the perfect take. Courtney embraced this approach and we ended up with a raw, natural and human record”.

I want to finish this pre-review segment by bringing in a quote Andrews provided regarding audiences from different parts of the world; we will hopefully see Andrews come to the U.K. very soon - and there is a lot of love for her here.

Andrews’ music takes in Indie and Americana, but I think, at its heart, there is this Country flavour. The Country music scene is fantastic, but it has always had a problem with sexism. Maybe things are improving, but the statistic are still not great. I am not sure what the situation is like for Andrews, but I am sure she has faced discrimination like many of her peers in Country music. Looking at an article on the U.S.A. Today website, and it is unsettling seeing what a discrepancy there is:

“Songs recorded by women constitute just 10% of all songs played on country radio stations, according to a report published last week. That has women in country music and all who care about fairness on the airwaves up in arms.

“Depending on the time of day a listener tunes in to their station, (10% is) barely enough to be heard. It’s certainly not enough exposure to become known, to build a fan base, to climb charts, to gain enough recognition to have access to opportunities and resources within the industry,” wrote University of Ottawa professor Jada Watson, who partnered with cable network CMT on the report.

In addition, female artists tend to get that airplay in off-hours when a station’s audience is smaller, according to Watson.

A recent USC Annenberg journalism school study also found that the average age of top male performing artists was 42; the average for the top female artists was 29.

While many country music institutions appear to be rallying for women — this year’s Country Music Association Awards was an example — country radio isn’t budging.

It was early in 2015 that a group of women in the recording industry in Nashville held the first meeting of “Change the Conversation,” dedicated to giving women an equal voice in country radio.

“Male artists have always dominated country radio 70/30, but over the last decade, the percentages for females have dropped dramatically,” Leslie Fram, a member of the group and senior vice president of music strategy for CMT, told me in an interview. “It leads to a cycle of fewer women getting signed, fewer female songwriters getting publishing deals and fewer women on tours. it’s tough to get on a tour if you don’t have a song on the radio”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Jacob Bickenstaff

There are women in the industry fighting back, but I do wonder why, in 2020, there is still this problem. It does appear like there is hope of improvement on the horizon, but so many women in Country have to face barriers and resistance. Courtney Marie Andrews is an artist who has faced sexism through her career, and I wonder whether an album like Old Flowers will get the exposure it deserves when it arrives in July. Feminism has played a role in Andrews’ music for a long time; she has faced these problems, but Andrews is definitely in control and not someone who accepts prejudice lying down. She was asked about sexism and feminism in an interview with Student Newspaper:

“Feminism especially has always been an important part of your music. How does it feel to be a woman in the music business?

A lot of times people just assumed that I couldn’t set up my guitar or mike. I heard ‘What do we have to do for you?’. Even when it wasn’t outspoken, I felt the vibe ‘you can’t do this.’ I’m really stubborn, I wanted to do everything myself and prove that I could. I’m in a band with guys and it often goes straight to them when it’s me who’s headlining. I’m just as capable as men. We’re hitting US and Europe now – with me as a girl boss”.

I was going to talk about her touring and coming to the U.K., but I will leave that until the end, as I have put quite a bit of information out there, and I am keen to review It Must Be Someone Else’s Fault. The reason, as I mentioned earlier, why I have included interviews and various different details is to get a bigger picture of the artist and where she came from; to give more context to her music and, hopefully, draw more people the way of Courtney Marie Andrews. I am excited about the upcoming album, Old Flowers, and the new track, It Must Be Someone Else’s Fault, is fantastic.

I love the introduction to It Must Be Someone Else’s Fault. We get this heartbeat of a drum and some gorgeous, plaintive yearning vibes that gives the track so much atmosphere and promise early on. Before Andrews has delivered a note, I was drifting into the song and imagining various scenes unfold. Andrews has such a fantastic voice, where she is able to elicit so many emotions and aspects pretty naturally. “Hollywood and Vine/Passing through your neighbourhood” is how the song starts out, and it made me wonder what the lyrics refer to. I know that Hollywood and Vine is the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, and maybe it represents a loftier, more starry setting passing through quite a rural or suburban location - a clash of the glitzy and the mundane. Andrews explains how she had a feeling she should have stopped by; to “Feed you a line from someone old romance book”. It made me wonder whether Andrews was referring to an old friend or someone that she used to be close to. It seems like the two have not spoken for years, and the way Andrews delivers the lines makes me think that, perhaps, this is a former friend and the two drifted because they are in different parts of the country. I love how she casually tosses in a line asking whether he/she still plays in a Rock band, or whether they have taken up a new love. It does appear like these two were close and on the same page, but something has pushed them in different directions. I was thinking more about a friendship rather than a relationship, and the quite minimalist composition allows Andrews’ voice to deliver without too much encroachment. I do like how the composition adds some pace and texture, but the vocal is very much at the front. Just before we get to the chorus, I was convinced of my opinions regarding the lyrical origins and meanings.

In the chorus, Andrews says that it must be someone else’s fault; someone else’s heart “who tainted mine”. Maybe there is some blame coming the way of our heroine. Perhaps there was this relationship a while ago; one that seemed quite strong but, for some reason, things have gone sour. In the video, we see Andrews moving and reaching out. We cut to a girl who is sort of mirroring her actions, which made me wonder whether that was representing Andrews now and then; maybe this was a childhood friendship or love that has been lost? It is a fascinating video that raises some theories and makes you wonder. In the chorus, Andrews’ voice is at its most impassioned and powerful. Her delivery is beautiful throughout, and I was really immersed in the song and trying to get to the bottom of the ‘mystery’. The more I played It Must Be Someone Else’s Fault, the more I learn.

PHOTO CREDIT: @mlesprg

The second verse is incredible, and Andrews’ songwriting style and language is so powerful. “Feels like I’ve gone crazy/Like the women in my family usually do/We can’t seem to keep our heads on/Long enough to make it through”, on paper, makes you smile a bit, but Andrews delivers the words in such a potent and emotional manner. Those words make me feel like there is a history in her family of relationships and friendships imploding because of an impatience or a restlessness. I keep switching between feelings that Andrews is trying to rekindle a childhood friendship, or this is a former lover who slipped away for silly reasons. Andrews is incredibly honest and open through the song. Whereas a lot of songwriters go on the attack or point fingers, Andrews is looking at her faults and taking some responsibility – even if it seems like the other party has not been entirely good-natured and loyal.

PHOTO CREDIT: Lindsey Grace Whiddon

“But I’m still sensitive and stubborn/Still cry more than a person should” are lyrics that really make an impact, but I was thinking whether Andrews was talking directly about herself, or maybe putting words in the mouth of the other person; maybe suggesting they have been a bit over-sensitive. I do feel like Andrews is referring to herself, which makes those words all the more stirring! There is a feeling inside her that has changed. Maybe she is not the woman she was, and she cannot go back to how things were. It is striking to hear how Andrews is sort of beating herself up a bit, or she is just at a point where she cannot keep her feelings and flaws buried away. I wonder who the other person is who seems to have tainted her heart and has caused a lot of pain. In the video, an older woman is seen on a stage, as she, like the girl from earlier, moves her arms and dances. Perhaps this woman represents someone in Andrews’ family, or it is an older version of the heroine; knowing she might not change and will always carry problems with her. I might be misreading the lyrics, but I have listened back a few times and really tried to dig deep. Courtney Marie Andrews’ voice is amazingly evocative and stunning throughout, and I cannot wait to see what else comes from Old Flowers. It is clearly going to be an amazing album, and I feel Andrews grows as a writer and performer with every album. There is nobody quite like her out there, and I know there are other artists out there who are being inspired and want to follow in her footsteps. It Must Be Someone Else’s Fault is another extraordinary song from one of the music world’s most special talents.

PHOTO CREDIT: Laura E. Partain

I am not sure what Courtney Marie Andrews has planned regarding gigs this year, but there are some dates that I think she will be able to perform. There is a lot of appreciation for her music here, so I wonder whether we will get to see her music this year and next. When she spoke with Guitar Girl Magazine in 2018, she was asked about the U.K. audiences and how they differ to U.S. ones:

“Do you find that the UK audiences are more responsive to your performances, or do you find it the same or actually opposite?

Courtney: I think it changes city to city. I do feel like there is a fascination with foreigners in general, just anywhere you go.

Just being an American, going over there is sort of exciting. But, based on this tour that we just did, the audiences were just as attentive and sweet over here [US]. I do definitely feel like the caliber with which the hospitality and the treating of artists tends to be better over there. They take care of you a little bit more, just in general. I feel like, of course, there are exceptions to that statement, but people are more hungry for music over there, for live music. I think people go out to shows more and enjoy that more. It’s a social event.

I will say that the audiences that I had on this last US tour were really just great, attentive, and supportive, and sweet”.

It is a very strange time at the moment, and we are going through a challenging time that, eventually, will pass. I hope that things are okay with Courtney Marie Andrews. She is living in a country that is experiencing riots and so much hatred at the moment. Things are escalating quite badly, and I am not sure what will happen in the coming days. She will be looking ahead to Old Flowers’ release in July, and I think it will be one of 2020’s best releases. Andrews is one of the best artists around, and I love everything about her music. I have dug back into her back catalogue, and I am finding Andrews’ songs sticking in the head; they keeping coming up in my mind, as they have that addictive and nuanced quality that you do not find with every artist! Make sure you follow Courtney Marie Andrews on social media and go and pre-order Old Flowers. Andrews is a musical treasure, an inspiring human, and a simply…