Musical reinventions are fairly rare these days, and those that occur before a debut album are even rarer. Don’t tell that to Rachel Brashear, whose first two EPs and handful of singles spanned from alt-rock jaunts to solo folk ballads, subtly injecting elements of jazz and lounge music along the way. Though she has dabbled in this sonic realm, never has the Oklahoma City singer-songwriter and ACM@UCO product so brazenly lost herself in it as she does on her new record, Songs from a Cave, which she will release June 1. On the album’s lead single and opening track, “Ace Up Your Sleeve,” Brashear relinquishes the axe in favor of a more anxious, earnest, piano-driven aesthetic — a midnight-in-the-city lounge vibe so thick it practically smells of Marlboro 100s.
The song’s approach is far more nuanced than her early work, and it would feel muted and sparse by comparison if not for the catharsis. Despite its surface-level charm, Brashear is practically fuming from within: “Play it for me, honey / The coins drop in a cup,” she sings with a sardonic snarl. “But you won’t make that much money / Unless you wear the makeup.” It’s as much a commentary on gender perception and equality as it as about the superficiality of the modern music industry (“Why would you put yourself through hell? / Because it sells”), with a compositional wit to match the conviction in her voice. It feels timeless yet very much of this moment, and it’s her most mature and accomplished release to date.
Listen to “Ace Up Your Sleeve” below, and be sure to catch Brashear June 12 at City Pres in Oklahoma City as part of the Midtown Songwriter Series.
