Dreamcatcher Artists
Release Date: May 3rd 2024
Reviewed by: Joshua Andre
Tenille Arts– to be honest (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- To Be Honest
- So Do I
- Wonder Woman
- Dying To Be Pretty
- Something I Can Cry To
- How Do You Sleep
- People Change
- Want Her Back
- Next Best Thing
- Call Me When You Get Home Friends
- Mama’s Eyes
- Summer Don’t Go
- Jealous Of Myself (feat. LeAnn Rimes)
- Last Time Last (feat. Maddie & Tae)
Tenille Arts has been in and around the music industry for quite some time. With Tenille now being an artist that I’ve become excited to listen to and enjoy (since Jon reviewed both of Tenille’s albums Love, Heartbreak & Everything In Between, and her 3rd album Girl to Girl), Tenille’s music, in my opinion, is quite similar thematically and musically, to her country music contemporaries- artists like Lauren Alaina, Kelsea Ballerini, Maddie & Tae, Tenille Townes, Lindsay Ell, Mickey Guyton, Carly Pearce, Runaway June & Hailey Whitters, to name a few. While her 2nd album was a concept album about love, heartbreak, and everything else; her 3rd album Girl to Girl saw Tenille change focus. Instead of singing songs about love, life, and heartbreak, she started to sing about other themes- body acceptance and connecting to different places wherever you go in life, to the unpredictability of life itself, and the longing for the simplicities of yesteryear to come invade the complexities of now.
In a nutshell, Girl to Girl is an ‘advice’ album, and I find myself relating to a few songs myself, even though the title of the album is called Girl to Girl. The album reminds us, that influence, impact, advice, and encouragement can come from all facets of music, genres, and people, and while I won’t necessarily be the initial target audience by Tenille and her music, that certainly doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy her music. Fast forward to 2024, and upon the heels of her 3 successful albums, and a few singles (“Tears”, “TERRITORY”, “Jealous Of Myself”), Tenille is back at it again- with her brand new album To Be Honest which released this past month.
Comprising of 14 new songs, inclusive of the already familiar songs like “Last Time Last” (feat. Maddie & Tae), “Mama’s Eyes”, “Summer Don’t Go”, and “Wonder Woman”; we are met with one of the most vulnerable, personal, honest and emotional albums of 2024 to date- probably on par lyrically with Kate Hudson’s debut album Glorious! Opening the track list with the mid-tempo guitar led ballad which is the title track, we are met with an extremely confessional and hopeful melody about the very act of being honest and about how sometimes a difference in opinion within a romantic relationship isn’t necessarily a bad thing at all. As Tenille reiterates, ‘…you’ll see it your way, I’ll see it mine, if we disagree, we’ll be stronger, I promise, don’t sugarcoat it, baby, let’s fight, just ’cause it’s hard, that don’t mean we don’t want this, yeah, love ain’t supposed to be easy, it’s supposed to be honest…’, we aren’t sure whether this song is inspired by a moment in Tenille’s life; however the ramifications for people hearing this song are huge, as it should and probably will encourage couples to be honest and to try to work through their issues rather than run away at the very first hurdle.
To Be Honest tackles some pretty deep issues, and Tenille reveals quite a lot here that is commendable and worthy of being applauded and congratulated. “So Do I”, written by Demi Lovato (and a definite possibility for Demi to record on her new album whenever that may arise!), is a clear album highlight, and an incredibly emotional, honest and heart wrenching piano ballad, with Tenille diving deep into mental health and feelings of being alone and isolation, as she fervently cries out ‘…do you feel like you wanna cry? Do you feel like you wanna hide? Do you feel like the whole world’s waitin’ for you to get it right? Do you feel like you wanna scream? But you can’t ’cause you can’t breathe, do you feel like you’re the only one who knows what this feels like? ‘Cause so do I…’. And as Tenille has beautifully expressed in this ‘behind the scenes story’ interview, sometimes other people can say what you’re feeling better than you can- and that’s the beauty of collaboration and being humble to say that you need other people in this world to survive and thrive: I thought the to be honest album was done when I wrote the title track, until I realized something was missing. I had been trying to communicate what I was going through in a song for over a year…but felt like I kept coming up short. The beautiful and humbling thing about writing music is sometimes someone else can say it better than I can. I heard ‘So Do I’ and it perfectly said exactly what I was thinking and experiencing. I am so grateful to Demi Lovato, Sasha Sloan, Laura Veltz, and King Henry for writing this song and allowing me to record it. Somehow my most personal song is one I didn’t even write, which is one of the reasons I love music and songwriters so much. I hope that anyone who listens to this song and relates to it knows that they aren’t alone in what they’re going through… because so do I.
The ballad “Wonder Woman” speaks to a potential partner, with Tenille letting them know that she will always be by their side, and that she is the type of woman that is dependable and reliable; while the no-holds-barred hard-hitting and extremely powerful pop/rock melody “Dying To Be Pretty” vividly exposes the lies that people in general are told about the fact that how you look on the outside determines your social status and how far you go in life. In fact though, this song inspires us to look deeper at people and to not judge others based on outward appearance or any other factor for that matter. “Something I Can Cry To” feels like a radio friendly Shania Twain-style 90’s ballad (in a good way), as Tenille conveys across vibrant guitars and earnest keys that she (or the persona) is still in the early stages of going through a break-up, and needs sad songs to listen to in order to cope and then move on; but the album’s first ‘true’ ballad is the acoustic guitar driven “How Do You Sleep”, where Tenille brilliantly shows off her vocal chops and capabilities, as she delivers an moving yet also excruciating melody about wondering how does her ex sleep at night when he’s the one who broke up with her: Do you think about me? Do you drink a whole bottle of wine? Do you watch TV? Something to numb your mind? Like I do, if you ever cry, so do I every time I think about you, yeah, this should hurt you too..’.
“People Change” is another tear-jerker (following on from “How Do You Sleep?”, where Tenille outlines how she and her ex have drifted so far apart, and she is concluding that people change, which is a sad reality indeed and why so many couples break up through a host of valid and invalid reasons; while “Want Her Back” highlights Tenille’s hopes that her friend who seems so distant now (because of the relationship that she’s in) wakes up to the reality that the guy she is with isn’t good for her, and that she because that fun person that Tenille knows again, as ‘…he took the life of the party, when you just wanted to dance with somebody, yeah, he got you breakin’ up with all your best friends, thought I liked him, now I’m second guessin’, you were a good time waitin’ to happen, shouldn’t be cryin’ alone in the bathroom, ’cause he took the life of the party, and I just want her back, want her back, want her back…’. “Next Best Thing”, again about a breakup and wishing an ex well, delves deep into the concept of the guy letting the girl go for whatever reason, and then him realising that he’s never going to find another girl that measures up to the previous girl- as Tenille confirms through these lyrics: ‘…’cause you already had it good as it’s gonna get, you already had it right ’til the night you left, you already had a queen in your California king, you’ll never be my one that got away, you’ll always be the boy who was scared to stay, I’d wish you the best, but you already had me, so I wish you the next best thing…’; while the inspirational and heartwarming melody (and album standout) “Call Me When You Get Home Friends” speaks about that lifelong friendship that is hard to find- with Tenille highlighting that there are friends who come and go from your life for whatever reason, but there are real and true and bets friends who stick by you through thick and thin, as ‘…some of those come and go, but I can tell you the ones that don’t, are those swear you always knew ’em, drop whatever they’re doin’ to get you in their getaway car, those hold your hair back when you’re drinkin’, don’t hold back what they’re thinkin’, take you out to dance away your broken heart, thank God you found ’em, with you ’til the end, can’t live without ’em, ‘call me when you get home’, friends…’.
“Mama’s Eyes”, a reflective ballad directed to Tenille’s mother and released last year on Mother’s Day, honours her as well, with Tenille outlining that she wishes that she had her mother’s enviable and impressive qualities, including her eyes and outlook on life; while “Summer Don’t Go” is a laid back and breezy examination of a summer ‘relationship’ or ‘fling’ and Tenille’s desperate but possible failed attempt at trying to ensure that summer stays right where it is, and that Tenille (or the persona in the song) can be happy forever in a perpetual state of bliss which may or may not be long-lasting or genuine. “Jealous Of Myself”, sung with LeAnn Rimes, speaks about a woman being jealous of herself when she was with her ex, especially now as he’s moved on to someone new; while to be honest ends with “Last Time Last”, with Maddie & Tae on guest vocals. It’s a party, raise-em-up, celebratory type of song, which focuses on the little moments in our lives, and the fact that we need to make them all count and make all of the beautiful moments in our lives last, simply because it could be the last time we ever do something (and thus we need to make that moment last forever in our lives and in our minds!).
With Tenille Arts fast becoming one of the most underrated musicians within not just country music, but music, full stop; this deeply personal, honest, vulnerable, vibrant and dynamic collection of new songs are must-listen, if you enjoy country music or ballads or any combination. There’s relationship songs, songs about friendship, and a song about mental health and feeling hopelessness- something for everyone lyrically here. Well done Tenille, for such a powerful and emotive collection of songs. Maybe a Christmas album or live album next? Looking forward to however this album is used to challenge people in their own relationships and friendships as the weeks and months progress.
5 songs to listen to: So Do I, Dying To Be Pretty, Want Her Back, Call Me When You Get Home Friends, Last Time Last
Score: 5/5
RIYL: Carly Pearce, Lainey Wilson, Gabby Barrett, Lindsay Ell, Lady A