image courtesy of Hello Wendy PR

Album Review of Nobody’s Girl: Nobody’s Girl

Nobody’s Girl is a bit of an Americana supergroup, a collaboration among BettySoo, Rebecca Loebe, and Grace Pettis. With that pedigree, you’d expect songwriting and vocals to be among this trio’s strengths, and judging by this eponymous full-length album, indeed, they are.

Nobody’s Girl knows how to structure a song to build to power, to complement the vocals, and to connect emotionally.

The trio kicks things off emphatically with “Kansas,” a song whose music bed is as rich and lush as the group’s harmonies, a song sure to become an anthem of strength and support for those who left behind Kansas – whether the state itself or the state as a metaphor.

Throughout the rest of the disc, other favorites step forward, though the songwriting and delivery is so solid those breakthrough songs are destined to be different for each listener.

Nobody’s Girl tackles social issues in many of its songs. Songs like “Kansas” are subtle. Others, like “Promised Land,” are a lot more direct – though dependably tuneful, engaging, and catchy – lamenting the state of the U.S., but opining hopefully toward the end that “from where I stand, this could still be the promised land.”

“Rescued” stands out as an energetic song about personal independence with a cool rhythm line and, you just might notice, a small but effective guitar riff at just the right spot in the second half of the song to propel it home.

Difficulties of a career in music are fodder for the melancholically uptempo “Beauty Way.” Similarly uptempo “What’ll I Do” is a fun take on perhaps not the wisest romance.

Other notable songs include “Birthright,” singing forthrightly about a range of traumas, large and small, recent and generational; the floatingly, soft “The Morning After,” with its almost haunting musical backdrop and phrasing, particularly in the verses; and a relatively true to the original (but still oh-so-worth-the-listen) cover of  the Carole King classic “So Far Away.”

The disc closes with the sweet, folksy “Lark,” which repeatedly poses the question, “Where you runnin’ to?”

Individually, the members of Nobody’s Girl are obviously talented. Collectively, wow! And Nobody’s Fool is an exceptionally strong collection of songs that should be of interest to a group of fans with musical tastes ranging from singer-songwriter to pop-to-mid-tempo rock to some country-leaning Americana.

Looking Ahead

There are currently no tour dates listed on the “Tour” page of Nobody’s Girl’s website. However, there are current opportunities to see the trio perform separately. Rebecca Loebe’s “Tour” page shows that she has a September European tour planned. BettySoo’s “Shows” page shows that she’s in the middle of a continent-spanning summer tour. Grace Pettis’s website, meanwhile, lists a single September 21st date at McGonigel’s Mucky Duck in Houston, TX.