Haley Brooke “One of These Days”

DEEZER: https://www.deezer.com/en/album/78672292

Bayou-born and internationally-traveled singer Haley Brooke unleashes a heartfelt melody for the ages in her new single “One of These Days,” a potent blend of pop prowess and sublime, homespun charisma. “One of These Days” further cultivates a sound that most of us got to know with “Where You Are,” Brooke’s first single that rocked critics and audiences alike back in 2017. Now a little over year later, Brooke drops the hammer hard with this latest track, which highlights her keen ability to forge an epic groove out of the simplest of songs using little to no external frills in the process. “One of These Days” starts off slow, creeping out of the shadows on the strength of a shimmering cymbal part that eventually gives way to streaking piano notes. Brooke sews her lyrical threading in between the decadent lines being drawn around her, shaping the direction of the track from a removed place that is insular but effortlessly inviting. She welcomes us into her heart and shows us what she’s feeling from her own perspective, and by the time we reach the song’s incredible climax we’re completely in tune with her emotions, as volatile (and raw) as they might be.

There’s a little bit of a soulful, somewhat countrified influence in this song that falls in line with recent reports that Brooke is working with Nashville-based songwriters this January in preparation for her next release. This isn’t a country single by any stretch of your imagination, but her Louisiana roots really start to show up when we observe her sly, dexterous vocal attack in the chorus. Buried beneath an ocean of divine, gospel-style serenading, I think there’s an acoustic-minded singer/songwriter in Haley Brooke just waiting to come out and be heard. “One of These Days” is steeped in an Americana-flavored rollicking rhythm that is impossible to reject once it gets warmed up, but it doesn’t go so far into pastoral territory as to abandon the streamlined pop fluidity of the song. It could be representative of the creative tone her sound is about to take on, or it could just be another facet of the brilliantly multidimensional sonic profile that she’s still in the process of developing.

Lyrically bold and musically sophisticated beyond what many of us – both listeners and critics – would expect out of a sophomore release from a rising pop star, “One of These Days” is a taste of what Haley Brooke can do when she’s got nothing to hold her back in the studio. You can tell from the jump that she’s completely relaxed in this setting; she never comes off unsure of herself or the words she’s singing, and when the track comes to a stop there’s an undeniable vibe that we’ve only begun to touch on her larger aesthetical profile. What makes a song like this one so addictive and fun to listen to isn’t its affectionate hook or the relatable subject matter of its lyrics – it’s the way that Brooke takes control of the narrative and makes her audience feel like she’s singing directly to them. That alone is something that many artists spend entire careers trying to accomplish, and one of the reasons why I’ll be keeping a close eye on this singer moving forward.

SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/track/0OyfvwHqv9QoExF2mH6e6V?autoplay=true&v=T

Mindy McCall