Best of Music: November 2021

 *check out my last music round-up here!*

I'll never quite forgive Spotify for making October 31st the cut-off for Spotify Wrapped (the ranking of your most listened to songs throughout the year) because anything I listen to afterwards isn't even considered, meaning all of the great music I've found this month won't make the list. Nonetheless, it certainly makes my monthly list, and November certainly delivered on great new music. You can check out my full Nov 21 playlist here, and read on for the best of the best - enjoy! 

Message In A Bottle - Taylor Swift

The biggest musical event of the year is obviously when Ms Music Industry herself, Taylor Swift, releases an album. I've been a fan since the Fearless days, so without a doubt the thing that gets me most excited about her re-records (aside from the fact that she now gets to own her own music) are the Vault tracks. Mr Perfectly Fine absolutely delivered as a Fearless Vault track, so I had high hopes for the Red Vault, particularly as this album was really Taylor's last country album before she veered off into pop. I knew we'd be getting Better Man and Babe (the originals of which are definitely worth checking out too), but there was one track which stood out to me above all others - Message In A Bottle. Picture an early 2000s rom-com makeover scene, and you've got the perfect soundtrack song for it. It's teen pop turned up to eleven, with the cutest lyrics to boot: "You could be the one that I love, I could be the one that you dream of. Message in a bottle is all I can do, standin' here, hopin' it gets to you. You could be the one that I keep, and I can be the reason you can't sleep at night." I want that kind of love.
Taylor-Swift-Red-.jpeg (1440×1440) (gingergeneration.it)

24 - Johnny Dailey 

"Why do you like country music, Ciara?" It has been, and always will be, because of the lyrics. I'm all for good melodies and talented vocals, but you give me some words that make me think and feel something, and I'm sold. Upon first listening to this track whilst multi-tasking, it was the melody and vocals that drew me in, but it was those subsequent listens that I thought 'there's more to this'. Country newcomer Johnny sings: "Time is borrowed so if tomorrow heaven came knocking on my door, I’d pull you closer, hold you tighter, kiss you slower, while the world’s on fire. No time wasting, just me making good on forever till my final hour... If I only had one more, I’d give you my last twenty-four." It's not a song that reveals itself to you immediately, but I like that. An artist to watch for sure.
Warner Chappell Music Nashville Signs Johnny Dailey - MusicRow.com

Madness - Maddie & Tae

It's not every day I stop in my tracks when listening to a song, but it happened with this one. As with many songs that come my way, Madness shuffled its way onto one of my recommended Spotify playlists that I listen to when working, and it blew me away. I hadn't even finished listening to the song before I Tweeted about it to say I'd fallen in love. Maddie & Tae are special with whatever songs they write, but this one is next level. Both married, the duo wrote this song about their husbands, and you can feel the love throughout - it starts: "You're my north star, you're my hideaway, you're my lighthouse shinin' in a hurricane. You're my best friend, you're my favorite thing, changed my mind, change my heart, change my last name." This is a song about loving someone no matter what: "Come what may, babe, hell or high, if those stars fall from that sky, let it all come crashin', I'll be runnin' to you the fastest. If these streets go up in flames, if everybody goes insane, I'll reach for you, you'll keep me safe, cause baby, whatever happens, if the world goes mad, if it all goes bad... I'll love you through the madness." It's a strange world we're living in, but this is a song that'll really let your partner know you love them.

Maddie & Tae Dedicate Emotional ‘Madness’ To Their Husbands (tasteofcountry.com)

Teddy Robb - Cigarettes'll Kill Ya 

You know how there are things that remind you of people from your past? Mine are songs and places, and for Teddy Robb, it's the smell of cigarette smoke. Not a smell that would get me thinking about love, but I can relate to the nostalgia that certain things can trigger. This song, sung in Teddy's signature dulcet tones, tells the story of a guy in a bar (where all good stories start, really) being reminded of a past love by a woman smoking across from him. She doesn't know the memories she's stirring and how much they hurt him: "That second-hand smoke from the red and black cloves. Same ones we used to burn when we get a little loaded up on Friday, buzzing the night away. Damn you were one in a million, now I'm sitting right here in a missing you haze. Hurts a little more with every drag she's taking, baby, I'm dying just to be with you, yeah, cigarettes'll kill ya." A phrase that’s true for more reason than one.

TEDDY ROBB DISCLAIMER: “CIGARETTES’LL KILL YA” - Monument Records (monument-records.com)

Neon Cowgirl – Raelynn

There’s not a part of me that understands why Raelynn isn’t up there with Kelsea, Carly, and Gabby. Her music has grown so much within the past few years, and I really think there’s something refreshing about her no-nonsense attitude to the topics she sings about, whether that be meeting the one, getting drunk, or knowing your worth. Neon Cowgirl falls into the last category, about a girl sitting at a bar ‘waitin’ on a cowboy to rope her heart’ when in reality, no-one who walks through that door will be anywhere near good enough for you. Raelynn tells us: “Girl, you need to saddle your horse up and get the hell outta here, all of them Wranglers and whiskey and smoke is all smoke and mirrors. You're shinin' like a diamond in your denim and pearls, but don't you go losin' your light in the neon, cowgirl.” I love the imagery of denim and pearls, the positive message behind the lyrics, the Wild West backing track, and Raelynn’s totally underrated vocals. Like last month’s favourite Get That All The Time, she has a way of making any song fun and extremely listenable.

Spotify – Neon Cowgirl - song by RaeLynn

Follow Your Heart - Logan Mize 

Someone else who definitely needs to break into the big time is Logan Mize. I first saw him perform at Nashville Meets London in 2016 (read my review of his set, and my interview with Logan here), and the fact that he still hasn’t yet had a big hit is a crime. Follow Your Heart is a song about wanting someone to do just that – go out and follow their dreams, and hey, if that path leads them back to you, that’d be okay too. “Follow the highway signs, follow the long line of memories. Follow that little voice inside that’s telling you right where you oughta be. Follow your heart, follow your heart right back to me.” It’s simple and noto verdone, allowing Logan to project on the lyrics and make it sound effortless. We all know the famous saying that if you love something, let it go, and if it was meant to be, they’ll come back to you – this is a song that I have no doubt will come back to me again and again.  

Follow Your Heart - Logan Mize - Testo | Testi e Traduzioni

If I Was A Cowboy - Miranda Lambert

I can’t believe there was ever a time when I didn’t love Miranda Lambert. I will go to my grave claiming that The Weight Of These Wings is one of the best country albums to date, Bluebird was the song that got me through four months of manual labour on an Australian farm, and Track Record is the backing track for my official radio promo (every Friday, 5-8pm UK on www.ukcountryradio.com!). I think I can probably call myself a pretty big RanFan, and it’s songs like If I Was A Cowboy that make that incredibly easy to understand. It’s not a song that any artist could make their own, but Miranda has that authenticity that truly make you believe that she lives by each and every lyric in this song. They’re clever too: “If I was a cowboy, I’d be wild and free, rollin’ around these towns like tumbleweeds. I’d be a legend at loving and leaving, nipping on a whiskey and numbing up my feelings. You thought the West was wild, but you ain’t saddled up with me, if I was a cowboy, I’d be the queen.” It’s powerful and nostalgic and real, and I can only hope that she’ll never stop making music just like this.

If I Was a Cowboy - Miranda Lambert - Testo | Testi e Traduzioni

Changed Everything - Austin Burke 

Versatility is in Austin Burke’s nature. He can go from sweet duets like Far Boy with Leah Marie Mason, to euphemistic parodies like Wet Dream, to want-you-back songs like Changed Everything. Here’s a man who can appreciate when he needs to make an effort: “Baby, I changed for the better, got my s--- together like you always wanted me to. I’m a little less screw up, a little more grew up since I messed it up with you. I can’t take back your last goodbye and the good Lord knows I’ve tried, cause baby, I’ve changed everything but your mind.” It’s a sad song that doesn’t feel sad, and one that allows you to appreciate what a great songwriter and singer Austin is. I can definitely see him as being one of the artists to come up alongside the likes of Parker McCollum, Roman Alexander, and Matt Stell – he certainly has the voice and talent for it.

Austin Burke – Changed Everything Lyrics | Genius Lyrics

I hope you enjoyed reading my November favourites – you can check out all of my favourite songs throughout the year right here: Ciara's Country Spotify, and I’d love to know what songs you’ve been loving recently! Drop me a message on Twitter @CiarasCountry, and make sure to join me every Friday GMT 5-8pm on www.ukcountryradio.com for three hours of great country music just like this. Thanks so much for reading!