Nashville singer songwriter Ellie Schmidly released her first single “Where To Begin,” from her upcoming debut EP Blossom & Bone, due out this spring. “Where To Begin” is a soft bluesy song that packs some deeper meaning into the simple phrase “where to begin.”
The song starts of with quiet guitars and Schmidly’s impressive voice bringing the listener into the song. Everything in the song builds from here. The layered vocals that come in at the beginning give the song an older, authentic sound.
Schmidly incorporates many various instruments into “Where To Begin.” The song starts off just with guitars, then drums are slowly introduced. By the second verse, Schmidly is just singing along to a piano. By the end of the song, even a clarinet and horns have been incorporated. This instrumentation creates a lush little world within the song, and makes Schmidly’s sparse lyrics much more meaningful.
Ellie Schmidly’s Meaningful Lyrics
“Maybe in a few years / Maybe when I’m 33 / I won’t have to ask / I won’t have to,” is just an example of one of Schmidly’s many musings that is repeated throughout the song. This line is a glimpse into some of the doubts and hopes that come with simply existing. Touching on growing up, and a feeling of confusion, “Where To Begin” becomes all the more relatable.
The word “waiting” is repeated many times during the song. This repetition furthers the song and creates meaning in the context of the other lyrics. “Where To Begin” touches on more mundane moments in life, but also touches on things that everyone feels when getting older. Schmidly finds the balance between these two things and executes it in a beautiful way.
Schmidly’s debut EP Blossom & Bone will be released on May 11. She can be found on twitter here.
