Abby Zotz – Local Honey LP

URL: https://abbyzmusic.com/

As a single, Abby Zotz’ new song “Good Bones” generated a lot of buzz due to its emotionally charged lyrics. As a music video however, these lyrics are enhanced into visually rousing imagery fit for a song as personally written as this one, and we’re encouraged to not only listen to what Zotz has to say but fully observe what she’s describing. In the same vein as all of her music, and especially her latest collection of tracks in the album Local Honey, “Good Bones” takes us hand in hand with one of Canada’s most cheerful and down to earth songwriters and lets us forget about our troubles – if only for the length of a pop song.

Local Honey is such a physical record from start to finish, and whether Zotz is singing about her hopes and dreams or the simple joy of holding a guitar in her hands, we’re able to feel all of the emotion in the girth of her voice, distributed evenly in one sonic ribbon after another. The video for “Good Bones” brings vivid color to the lyrics of the song through a fly-on-the-wall perspective of a day in the life of Abby Zotz, and the earthy filmmaking feels more like a home movie than it does anything else. She bears everything to her fans, and this piece is essentially an extension of her artistry.

Thanks in part to the rapid momentum that “Good Bones” has received since its release, Local Honey has arguably become the biggest and most successful breakout album of 2018. Casual fans will find that the album’s smorgasbord of compelling songcraft – from the gentle glide of “Stability” to the shapely folk of “Hush Baby Waltz” – isn’t held together by its hit single but instead accentuates its greatest qualities. That’s not something you see a lot in today’s fast paced pop music scene, but it’s definitely not something that I want to disappear anytime soon.

The centerpiece in Abby Zotz’ sound is her complete rejection of complexity. Whether it be the video for “Good Bones” or anything else in Local Honey, she goes out of her way to make sure that none of her music goes overboard in trying to get its point across. The key to making something really special is to never overindulge in its finer points, and I think that as long as Zotz maintains the patient attitude that she’s got towards songwriting that her formula is going to stay relevant and financially lucrative well into the next decade of popular music.

With unparalleled class and a nurturing melody for almost any occasion, Abby Zotz is cratering the North American music underground like no other artist in her scene or generation has to date. Local Honey is the best album that I’ve listened to all year and “Good Bones” makes a pretty good case for being the most original video of the last two dozen months, and I don’t think we’ve even begun to see what this artist is capable of doing when she’s got all of the right tools at her disposal.

INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/zotzabby/

Michael Rand