I am sure there’s many who, after a superficial rundown of the facts behind Daisy Briggs, will ask what makes her different from the multitude of other fetching young ladies who Nashville has pushed over the last 20+ years?
In a word, individuality.
Briggs enjoys a growing social media following through Instagram and is set to release her debut EP entitled Nice Knowing You. Yes, you’ll hear a fair amount of influences throughout its first single, the title song, but you’ll hear something else as well. You’ll hear a songwriter who has mastered her own idiosyncratic take on language at an astonishingly early age. You’ll hear a singer with sharp instincts for how to tailor and shape her voice around a musical arrangement. You’ll hear an unique personality shining through at every turn.
The lyrics are full of remarkable maturity. She isn’t bemoaning the lost love or relationships she’s left behind but, instead, cherishing the lessons learned from those interludes and charging renewed into the future. It’s a song with no regrets, even if it is born from heartbreak. She delivers its message without any sentimentality or irony, always treating that chapter of her life with the gravity it deserves but delineating it for us in a matter-of-fact way.
The song’s video does this as well. Jake Saghi, her musical collaborator, serves as the video’s director. He has a clear grasp on how to best convey the song’s message in visual terms and does well by focusing on Briggs’ pleasing optic presence throughout the song. It’s good that much of the clip puts a guitar in her hand because her musical talents deserve every bit as much emphasis as her voice, looks, and lyrical acumen.
The song’s acoustic guitar hints at the track’s gestation. It isn’t difficult imagining that its initial form was nothing else but Briggs sitting alone and hammering out the cut with just her voice and acoustic guitar in tow. Saghi is smart to never burden it with needless ornamentation. He provides restless percussion for the song that emphasizes Briggs’ eagerness to begin again and orchestrates the various elements into a coherent and likable whole.
Her voice has exceptional rhythmic attributes. She sings in a percussive way that gives added layers to the track it would otherwise lack. This is never an overstated effect, however, but instead, a meaningful affectation that develops the song more. She keeps things brief as well. I admire the concision that plays such an important role in the song’s success because it would have definitely lost some of its impact if she had stretched it out much further than she does.
Daisy Briggs is a long way from Newport, Rhode Island. She’s making her way through a highly competitive Nashville environment by placing absolute faith in her performing and songwriting skills. It isn’t a gamble. She is more than up for the task and, even on her debut, sounds like a musical artist who is near the peak of her considerable powers, No one should doubt that Nice Knowing You kickstarts Daisy Briggs’ career, and its title song will remain one of her standards for years to come.
