Country rockers The High Road are celebrating the success of their single Brand New You, released late last year. Now into 2023, The High Road look to continue this momentum as they rack up some pretty impressive streaming numbers and active followers. A party band by nature, capturing the summer feel-good vibe, The High Road channel this energy into Brand New You with their introspective metaphorical approach to finding the perfect mate, or at least being able to accept one for any of their inherent character flaws. This theme comes across most strikingly in the chorus section; “It don’t matter what I do, ’cause I can’t make a brand new you. Girl, I’m lost without a clue, and I can’t make a brand new you.” As the boys in The High Road jam out this track, it is coupled with upper register vocals, bordering on alto without added falsetto. This style gives Brand New You a nostalgic, retro feel that targets older generation listeners as well as emerging rockers entering the jam-band genre. This fun and whimsical jam thus becomes a great summer anthem for those hot nights in front of a campfire or even cruising down the highway type of track. It is the effective deployment of the instrumentation that really gives Brand New You its credibility though. The melodic figures the guitars use to encapsulate each lyrical phrase help to solidify each cadence while the deep-in-the-pocket groove stays tight and slightly syncopated helping elicit that toe-tapping rhythm.
Although Brand New You is clearly meant to be a party track, meant to be taken light-heartedly it is the metaphorical approach the lyrics take that comes out with each listen that strikes the audience as being more clever than it would appear on the surface. “This is a place where I lay my head, an empty house with an empty bed” This imagery of life without the subject matter while trying to fix the weaknesses or faults without accepting what is out of their control that makes Brand New You challenging as well as entertaining. Brand New You would be an excellent fit in any Country, Rock, or Adult Contemporary commercial radio playlist with its infectious chorus and pleasant melodies. Of course, if you want the full experience, The High Road has that striking live feel that comes out on the recorded performance and is best experienced in person. With a steadily growing catalog of singles amassing for this band, perhaps a full-length album is in the works?
Reviewed by: Lee Callaghan | Evolution Music Press
