ALBUM REVIEW: Emily Nenni Gets Hands Dirty for Songs That Ring True
Laura Stanley
Posted On November 3, 2022
If you live in a big city and spend most of your day staring at a computer, you likely harbor the dream of moving to the country, someplace where the pace is a bit slower and you can finally hear yourself think. You could even work with your hands and get a little dirty.
Emily Nenni (photo by Alysse Gafkjen)
A couple years ago, Emily Nenni temporarily uprooted her life in Nashville and spent time in Colorado working on a ranch, an experience that serves as the backdrop of her debut album On the Ranch. The joy of Nenni’s experiences seep into the record and its playful honky-tonk style. But Nenni dispels any utopian views you may have about living in the country when, on the title track, she admits, “out on the ranch to avoid my troubles, ooh looks like I got double.”
These songs are about hard work, adventure, and romantic misadventures. Nenni’s reedy and twangy voice is the ideal narrator and corrals the tracks in exciting places. Even her cover of ABBA’s “Does Your Mother Know,” in which Nenni alternates between ABBA’s quick tempo and a slow-dance friendly pace, isn’t out of step. Rather, it makes you believe the original tune was played loudly on the ranch under the light of the moon.
The skittery opener, “Can Chaser,” pays homage to “can chaser, barrel racer” women in the rodeo, and the “9 to 5”-esque lyricism of “In the Mornin’” (“When the sun comes up I’m hittin’ the road, two sugars in my coffee to go,” Nenni sings in the chorus) is a welcome and fun jolt.
As the sun sets on the record, Nenni leaves us with a bit of encouragement on the bluesy closing track, “Get On With It.” If you do daydream about getting out of the city, maybe now is the time. As Nenni sings, “get up off your good intentions, get on with it.”
On the Ranch is a barnburner.
Emily Nenni’s On the Ranch is out Nov. 4 on Normaltown Records.
