Tracy Shedd
Genuine lawn sprinklers?
You know the difference between being genuine and billing yourself as genuine, right? Lots of folks enjoy spreading the idea that they’re genuine, like Dr. Phil, Céline Dion, or Ted Stevens. Yup, they never give up a chance to let people know that they are true, real, sincere people. They’re like lawn sprinklers, showering everything indiscriminately until the lawn is so wet nobody can really argue as to whether it’s damp or not.
Tracy Shedd doesn’t need to spray anything to get her intentions across, especially not with a song like Whatever It Takes. Such a song speaks volumes, allowing for a pretty safe portrait of someone who really places herself into her art, and we listeners are all the better for it.
Across the gritty twang of husband James Tritten’s soul gazing guitar, hazy and mysterious like a smoky after-hours bar, Shedd’s voice softly purrs its heady, earnest harmonies. Like a dreamy glow, her heart-sleeve vocals make her down-to-earth lyricism resonate with truth, palpable and genuine. Mundane wisdom such as “Whatever it takes, don’t let them break you down/And whatever it takes, don’t let them talk to you this way” becomes undeniably crucial and true, grand in its simplicity, while still sounding brittle and tentative, far from being some clamorous self-help guru, as if clutched by her own uncertainty about the statement. It’s this humanity which drips from every word she speaks, without relying on melodrama to immerse listeners into her sheen. Her authentic delivery and mature 90’s powerpop-like urgency make Whatever It Takes one of the most compelling and beguiling tracks of the year.
MP3: Tracy Shedd - Whatever It Takes
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