But where confessional might be breaking big is in country, where women influenced by Jewel and Sheryl are making their mark. My attention to country being sporadic and relatively recent, I don't know how long this has been going on (need to track down the first two Deana Carter albums, from the '90s). Stay tuned for the Wreckers and Taylor Swift (hitting big) and Ashley Monroe (struggling for airplay; "Satisfied" is by far the best of her two singles).
The Wreckers, if you don't know, are the duo Jessica Harp and Michelle Branch, both ex-teenpoppers; Michelle Branch's "Everywhere" from 2001 was the first big teenpop singer-songwriter hit and set the template for much of what was to follow from Avril and Ashlee and the like. The Wreckers' two hit singles are only so-so, but the album has some really nice personal-angst slush in the middle, with instrumentation and sound that's only nominally country, if even that. The Wreckers' sound is more interesting than their words, but Taylor's got great words, and she's a much smarter singer, has a smart sense of when to hold back. Also, her big hit is about looking back with bittersweet memories at an early love, a fairly common theme in country since Deana's "Strawberry Wine," but usually done by someone in her twenties or thirties, not by a sixteen-year-old. And there's an aggressive subtext: "When you think Tim McGraw, I hope you think my favorite song," can mean "I hope you have warm memories of me," but also can mean "I hope I haunt you, fucker, the way you haunted me. Sincerely, your discarded girlfiend, Taylor."
But where confessional might be breaking big...
The Wreckers, if you don't know, are the duo Jessica Harp and Michelle Branch, both ex-teenpoppers; Michelle Branch's "Everywhere" from 2001 was the first big teenpop singer-songwriter hit and set the template for much of what was to follow from Avril and Ashlee and the like. The Wreckers' two hit singles are only so-so, but the album has some really nice personal-angst slush in the middle, with instrumentation and sound that's only nominally country, if even that. The Wreckers' sound is more interesting than their words, but Taylor's got great words, and she's a much smarter singer, has a smart sense of when to hold back. Also, her big hit is about looking back with bittersweet memories at an early love, a fairly common theme in country since Deana's "Strawberry Wine," but usually done by someone in her twenties or thirties, not by a sixteen-year-old. And there's an aggressive subtext: "When you think Tim McGraw, I hope you think my favorite song," can mean "I hope you have warm memories of me," but also can mean "I hope I haunt you, fucker, the way you haunted me. Sincerely, your discarded girlfiend, Taylor."