Aubory Bugg -- i think i had something once
On their debut album, Aubory Bugg explores nostalgia at the tender age of 21 on i think i had something once. Steve Roberts notes that it's a promising debut, and a showcase for Bugg's crystalline voice.
As sure as the sun rises in the east, the record industry is always going to find young people to promote. Their audience is young, and teenagers etc. seem to have the loudest and most dramatic emotions. So it’s no surprise when we get records from twenty-one-year-olds like Illinois’ Aubory Bugg, and often younger than that. And while the teenage musical savants used to be brought to national attention by way of a predatory “manager” or stage mom or dad, Bugg comes by their growing audience more organically, through social media, and particularly TikTok.
Rather than labor in obscurity like most young songwriters, bang, whip, here’s a full album of professionally crafted songs in the indie-folk/indie-rock style. It’s been slickly produced in Nashville, but the main character is definitely Aubory’s voice. The title track starts the album with a joyful noise, cozy acoustic guitar frames her bright, rich voice ringing out like a miraculous bell, feeling like sunshine and a breath of fresh air. Comparisons have been made to a number of current singers such as Dacus and Bridgers, but she’s more reminiscent of an early career Joni Mitchell. The entire album attaches its success to the star of Bugg’s vocals, which successfully raise the ho-hum mid-tempo compositions. Occasionally such as on lead single “Nosedive” and “I Can’t” we’re treated to some sparks of rock, and Bugg slides back into an ensemble of players, band instead of solo act.
Everything here is enjoyable (except for a constant sleepy steel guitar that never seems to develop) but it’s likely if there wasn’t such a rush to capitalize on Aubory’s internet fame, a second or third pass on songwriting might have improved the content. This makes the lyrical offering ironic, as the album seems deeply rooted in whimsical meditations on the past. “It’s been awhile since I’ve looked at this life like a child” Bugg sings, but it couldn’t have been too long ago, right?
Clearly the album is thematically about the change from child to young adult, and how just like the move from small town Illinois to Nashville, it’s a sudden and shocking change of pace with new experiences and new expectations. It’s truly poignant to hear and feel the nostalgia in Aubory’s voice as they wish for the good times they’ve lost, even if they were a few short months ago instead of years. It’s a fresh perspective; most twenty-one year old singer songwriters might spend their lyrical capital expressing the fun excitement of youth rather than the nostalgia, but if a listener can remember being twenty-one, remembering sixteen and seventeen so clearly, it hurts to be so close and so far away.
i think i had something once is a promising debut that hopefully leads to more from the budding singer. It will be nice to reminisce about this album when, down the road, Aubory Bugg is able to craft songs that match structurally and lyrically what she does with her lovely voice.
i think i had something once will be available everywhere tomorrow, September 18 via Dualtone Records
