Jesse DeLaurier - What's It For
Country, Americana
Massachusetts, United States
Overall Impression: Soft and earnest lyrics drip from Jesse Delaurier's mouth in a gentle, warm timbre, making anyone listening to What's It For eager to empathize with the song's jilted protagonist, and puts them at a high risk of falling in love themselves! Mellow full-voiced acoustic guitar sweetly rises and falls in a cadence reminiscent of the highs and lows, and starts and stops of a relationship, mirrored in Delaurier's staccato strum pattern, while a persistent strum slap provides the perfect amount of low-key percussion for this heartbreaker. As the song winds to a poignant close in Delaurier's drawn out inquiry, "...So what's it for?" audiences will find themself reaching for the replay button again and again.
Strongest Point(s): What's It For has struck the perfect level of innocent simplicity that allows Delaurier's sweeping melodic voice to take main stage and allows the listener to feel the full weight of the emotionally charged song. The smooth progression of the underlying guitar shows off the deftness of the player, while thematically keeping it light and nimble, like an easy impulsive afterthought as Delaurier pours his heart out. The percussive slap guitar is a really beautiful choice to add for punctuation while keeping the song close and intimate: just one man, and his guitar. The vocals are gorgeous, and feel natural through the full range of the song, and the quality of Delaurier's voice is approachable and appealing, while showing just enough grit around the edges to truly sell the emotional turmoil reflected in the song's lyrics, finishing with subtle reverb, especially as it hangs and sparkles in the final seconds, this is truly something special.
Target Audience Appeal: What's It For is ready to take the world by storm, from college campuses to coffee shops and boutiques, mix tapes to independent radio. The song is infectious and supremely palatable, keeping it wide open for pop, indie, folk, singer-songwriter, contemporary, and country fans alike! It would shake the whole room at an intimate live venue, and would be an absolute dream for small live session recordings a-la NPR's Tiny Desk series.
Artist target suggestions: Frank Turner, Ed Sheeran, James Arthur, Paul Simon, Townes Van Zandt, James Taylor, Ingrid Michaelson, Calum Scott, The Beatles
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About the Reviewer:
Mary Wildsmith is an FM Radio DJ, and has been involved in both on-air work and radio production for five and a half years, in addition to working the past decade in and out of the live entertainment industry. She has experience with the fickle nature of the music industry, selecting singles to promote or discard for radio play, and engineering stage to audience sound systems. Having worked balancing, troubleshooting, and running audio rigs has enabled her to be both sensitive, and sympathetic, to the finesse and nuance of quality recording. Mary is passionate about promoting new and independent artists, and has spent extensive time in round-table environments discussing music and audio critically, and collaborating with artists to enable them to put the best possible foot forward with their art.