The new single from British artist Francesca Everly sits right on the edge of my sonic taste. Debbie Downer is ultimately a slice of high attitude pop music, but there is an energy and authenticity to this it that I couldn’t resist.
Created in response to a feeling of being misunderstood and overly sensitive, Francesca’s song describes the experience of feeling like you need to bottle up your emotions out of a fear of being judged for them. Debbie Downer is a subsequent emotional release, as she decides to let it all go anyway. Against a wall of guitars, Everly frustratedly cries, ‘Fuck’s sake, give me a break!’, and the result is cathartic for anyone who has ever felt like they are made to feel abnormal for their emotional response to a situation.
I’ve always been a sucker for the loud-quiet-loud thing, and Everly uses it to great effect here. Opening with gentle acoustic guitars and hurt sounding vocals, Debbie Downer transforms into a rowdy and assertive anthem. In the song’s finale, we get a return to its hushed opening in the form of a bridge that briefly feels introspective. It leads to a sense that Francesca has b een unshackled, however, as she shakes off the introspection, hitting the run into the song’s chorus in a brief a cappella solo. It is the kind of perfect little moment you can only really get in a pop record.
Based in London, Italiane-born musician Everly produces indie pop and, as demonstrated here, has a penchant for ‘unfiltered lyrics for your late-night overthinking sessions’. Debbie Downer follows on from her debut EP, This Heart Like I’ve Never Felt It. Check out the new single below: