The Singles Jukebox

Singing for the President: great way to win a break-up…

[Video][Website]
[6.40]

John Seroff: A video that kowtows briefly to Patsy Cline and is populated entirely by white faces (but without any scenes of interracial romance beyond still photos), suggests some trepidation on how to best introduce Guyton, a black female vocalist, to the Nashville crowd. As she is young and beautiful and sports a voice that doesn’t code as “black,” the strategy appears to be to act as if her race doesn’t merit mentioning. It does, of course, and all the whistling in the dark in the world won’t mask the fact that Guyton is likely to begin her career singled out in a predominantly conservative and Caucasian talent pool for reasons that have little to do with her abilities. Based on the strength of the charming “Left Me,” that’s unlikely to be the case for long. This is a catchy, girl-power pop-country song from a respectively rising young artist with decent live chops and PR that generally sidesteps the elephant in the room.
[7]

Crystal Leww: There are inevitable conversations about the symbolism of Mickey Guyton and her career, framed around how unbelievable it is that there are so few black people, much less black women in country music. But Guyton’s debut single “Better Than You Left Me” is great, even without the noise about what she represents. Thematically, the obvious comparison is to Reba’s “Going Out Like That,” with both women singing about getting over some dude. Guyton’s take is a little more straightforward, calmly and quietly explaining that she’s doing better, even when she’s belting it out all over that bridge. Oftentimes it’s the production that makes these tracks soar, but here, Guyton does it with a powerful vocal. “Better Than You Left Me” makes Mickey Guyton exciting, even more than just what she represents.
[7]

Alfred Soto: Her publicity people have pumped the autobiography, and why not? The tune, the Pottery Barn version of Lee Ann Womack, holds her down until she can show him that the smile on her face is only there to fool the public; she lets loose a cry of pain so acute that I wonder if she’s considered Carrie Underwood’s career.
[5]

Thomas Inskeep: Solid “I’m over you” single, sung really, really well, and sympathetically produced. Ten — or maybe 15 — years ago, this would’ve been a top 10 single for Lee Ann Womack.
[6]

Jonathan Bradley: It’s just misty enough that I find myself wishing the storm she kicks up were one she could properly drown in. I guess that would be contrary to the point though.
[6]

Kat Stevens: Her joy at realising she’s happier without Douchebag #1 in her life is utterly convincing. At “I laugh a little bit louder,” I found myself feeling genuinely pleased for her.
[7]

David Sheffieck: Like a gentler, genre-shifted “Since U Been Gone” — Guyton can breathe for the first time, and she’s gonna shove it in your face, because you deserve nothing less. But she’s going to shove it in your face politely.
[8]

Mo Kim: It frustrates me that “Better Than You Left Me” barely scratches Hallmark levels of specificity, but I understand why. Sometimes there are moments we can only explain in catchphrases, filling empty space with phrases like “I can’t breathe” and “words cold as ice” until we stumble into the words that speak to the truth of our experience. Guyton delivers these cliches with quiet sorrow and grace, but I’d like to hear her on something with more teeth.
[6]

Anthony Easton: As much as I enjoy the front half of this song, the back half collapses. Her voice has a warmth and, when it is slow, a smoothness that slides the ballad forward, but it is like she doesn’t trust the work. The end becomes poperatic in ways that are not helpful. Amusingly, the concrete lyrics are betrayed by the anxiety of the overworked production that concludes the song.
[5]

Brad Shoup: There’s something in the way she delivers the word “then” — a kind of hitch, simultaneously a liftoff and a pullback, a fantastic pivot from the present to the past. Dunno if this needed the strings or the backing vocals propping her on the bridge, but this is the country music she grew up with, so here they are. She has this kind of confident shiver, and it’s already pretty remarkable.
[7]