Aubory Bugg’s i think i had something once cuts through with an emotional depth and maturity you wouldn’t expect from a debut album.
The 12 track collection of emotive folk songs are a reflection of the 21 year old’s journey so far. From the inspiration and encouragement of her family to dream big and work hard, the struggles of growing up queer in a close knit town, to leaving home and now finding her community in Nashville, the record traverses difficult emotions at times. We all carry the weight of what we’ve left behind and this idea weaves through a lot of the tracks, yet ultimately the album resolves a lot of this by permeating a sense of gratitude and positivity of what we can take from even the most difficult situations. Aubory is at a point where she’s comfortable, happy and living life to the fullest, and it’s that outlook which overrides the sadness and struggles of the album’s journey.
Opening lyrics “how it’s so sad when the streetlights turn on/ that used to mean something once” from the album’s title track perfectly highlight the sentiment of loss, a gentle yearning for something you once had but never quite grasped at the time. Yet these feelings never run away into full blown melancholy, as you meander through the album, Aubory scoops them back up, crystallising her stories with notes of growth and positive reflection.
On just embers now Aubory looks back on her first love. Over upbeat folk-pop drums & guitars, Aubory sings, “we’re just embers now but that’s alright / can’t call our season wasted time / ‘cuz my angel, girl it changed my life.” And this is an example of where we hear the resolution and gratitude rise to the forefront. So many artists write as a form of therapy, a need to let the feelings out and something that makes this record stand out is the way Aubory has managed to do that yet also add some distance, reflect and reassess the situation from a different perspective – often within the same track. It’s as if she’s taken the painful version and revisited it months later to apply the varnish of healing brought with a little time and distance.
I adore the lyrical delivery on i think i had something once. Aubory’s breathy, gentle vocals lilt over the strummed guitar that forms the core of most tracks. She seems to know exactly when to dial up the power and when to pause and let the words just hover. This is clearly seen in wasted potential, where Aubory ends a line with “I’m ready when you want me” and the lyric just hangs, followed only by a gentle continuation of the instrumental track. It truly emphasises the vulnerability of the moment of saying those words to someone, and the album is dotted with small profound moments such as this where it makes you truly feel something and it’s only when you stop, go back and really listen that you recognise why.
There are so many tracks I want to highlight. The deceptively upbeat nosedive, about an ex-partner putting her in a difficult position, I love this tracks rockier energy. Or some of the more gentle songs: i’ve come to realize’s poignant exploration of grief and farewell to dreaming, written with a piano accompaniment instead of her usual guitar that see’s her resolving sad endings to relationships with a final wish for them to be happy.
I’m a big fan of sad girl does sad music, and Aubory’s work certainly has enough notes of this, but it’s the contrast against her relentless optimism that takes you on an emotional journey on i thought i had something once. It’s an elegant example of what modern folk music should be!
Listen to i though i had something once here.