“2 NEW GIRLFRIENDS” AFTER MAJOR SURGERY: COUNTRY POP VETERAN LARRY JAY STARTS OFF NEW YEAR ON A HIGH NOTE

Ever heard a song about “breaking a heartbreak”? Well the decorated country-pop veteran Larry Jay has kicked off this new year with a record to that effect. The New York native has consistently churned out numerous hit songs over the course of his illustrious career and “2 New Girlfriends” is the latest addition to this formidable catalogue and an emphatic attestation to his musical dexterity.

At first blush, the melodic Americana-tinged single seems like a detour from Larry’s forte. The title 2 New Girlfriends sounds so dandyishly libertine and cheeky, even bordering on the licentious. It seems like the legendary Larry has finally succumbed to the decadent themes rife in modern day music and made a song about some of his debaucherous escapades. But nothing could be farther from the truth.

2 New Girlfriends is a song that is essentially about resorting to promiscuity as a form of escape or rather as a coping mechanism to the anguish and distress of going through a failed relationship and broken love. Larry makes this abundantly clear through his lyrics as he croons in his ringing, silvery voice over the lush, melodic guitar riffs that constitute the song’s euphonious instrumental.

In the opening line of the song, Larry sings that “All my buddies say I better walk the line, cause these girls I’m with are gonna make me lose my mind”. In flagrant rebellion to this counsel however he follows up with “I tell everyone that I’m doing great, these girls are going to help me break my heartbreak”, the implication being that those surrounding him do not feel his pain and that he’s determined to use romantic multiplicity to muddle through his tribulations of love.

Larry’s prowess in lyrical imagery comes to the fore in vivid descriptions such as “Well tonight we’ll have a ménage a trois, in a corner booth down at my local bar.” The melancholy that underlies the whole song explodes through in candid confessions of his heartbreak when he says “Another love gone wrong, don’t wanna hurt no more” while advancing themes of escapism by indulgent behavior like drinking with the lyrics “I need to get that up, and that’s what drinking’s for.”

While he maintains his lechery is the only way for him to deal with what he’s going through, Larry knows that it will take him down a winding path of self destruction hence lines such as “I’m going down slowly into the deep end.” The song 2 New Girlfriends is an excellent attempt by Larry Jay to explore heartbreak as a mental and emotional struggle and stoicism coupled with indulgent behavior as coping mechanisms. Larry’s emotional honesty and vulnerability on the song is consistent with his original reason for going into music, that is, “To set my soul free”. The Country fraternity is definitely off to a good musical start courtesy of the venerable Larry Jay.       

–Kenny Wise