JESS MOSKALUKE
"Not What Ya Think"
MDM Recordings/Universal Music Canada
With a platinum-certified single and a Billboard Canada Country #1 already on her resume, Jess Moskaluke showed no signs of slowing down in 2022 with the release of “Knock Off,” which not only gave her another Top 10 Billboard single, but also delivered a popular acoustic rendition as well as a dance remix that catapulted her reach that much more.
She now starts 2023 with her brand-new single, “Not What Ya Think.”
The upbeat, pop country flavor leans into ultra-modern touches as it laces into the slick guitar riff through the intro to immediately pull you into the melodic groove as Moskaluke perfectly pumps her feel-good, optimistic vocal into the “I’m better off without you, so why you still comin’ around” lyric.
The lyrical storyline is not unlike what we’ve heard in country music before, singing of her having a drink with her girls at the bar, the ex that broke her heart walking in, and now she’s forced to face the flurry of emotions that could quite possibly come with that.
But where this song separates itself from the pack is by not being one that’s about looking back with regrets or hopes of getting back together, but it rather takes a quick celebratory turn as she sings in the first verse, “You might've broke my heart, but it sure ain't broke no more”; a sentiment she reamplifies in the second verse when she sings of him being so vain to assume that she’s still thinking about him.
With the entire scene now in motion, Jess unapologetically spells it out for him that matter of fact she isn’t there because he broke her heart, but she’s there to celebrate her freedom from him, as she punches the chorus:
“It's not what you think, I'm not on the brink
Ain't having a hard time, I'm on the upswing
Baby, you bailed, that ship's sailed, but I ain't about to sink
Think again if you think I'm still thinking 'bout you
Through feeling everything you put me through
There's a good reason I'm here having a drink
But it's not what you think.”
The sassy “nah, nah, nah, nah’s” in the out of each chorus inject this girl power anthem with the proper amounts of attitude and flare to motivate the liberated women to pump their fist and sing along, making the song that Moskaluke calls an ode to Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” a surefire candidate for another trip into the Billboard Top 10.
(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)