LEAH MARIE MASON

                                                               "Me Or My Hometown" 

                                                                The 13th

Leah Marie Mason is certainly no stranger to country music fans. When her debut single “Far Boy” went viral two years ago, it instantly catapulted her status and put the industry and media on high alert, creating a substantial buzz that’s surrounded her ever since.

She’s amassed over millions of streams on her subsequent song releases, “Habit,” “Miss Us Then,” and “I Wish,” while more recently, has been teasing samplings from her upcoming debut EP Honeydew and Hennessy (due out April 14, 2023) with “Trust Fund Cowboy” and the dark, moody “Holy Water.” 

She now offers the first official single from the EP with “Me of My Hometown.”

The song, co-written by Mason, Jason Reeves, and Nelly Joy, leans on a slowed down pace to perfectly match the emotional tug within Leah’s vocals as she brings us on an unfulfilling road trip back to her hometown.

Like opening an old yearbook, she paints stark visuals of every change that she’s seeing in the here and now; her best friend holding her baby, her brother getting married at the church they grew up in, the new apartments they’re building on top of the parking lot where her and her friends used to hang out, etc.

Transparently sharing the affect that all these changes are having on her, she somewhat questioningly ponders on how she’s only holding a guitar and not a baby like her friend, confesses to getting too drunk and a little lonely at her brother’s wedding, and tells of how it’s bittersweet to see everyone moving on.

However, Mason puts on a very bold display of her incredible songwriting prowess as she encapsulates the nothing ever stays the same logic, while skillfully grasping the notion that maybe it’s because as she’s grown, it’s her that’s changing.

Lamenting in the bridge, “I don’t recognize myself in the rearview mirror. I guess the past is so much further than it might appear,” she then masterfully punches lines in the chorus that shows a comparison progression into how everything is different than it was just 10 years ago:

“Now I’m ten years older like the faded paint on my old house”

“Now I’m ten years older like my daddy’s car that’s breaking down”

“Now I’m ten years older like these dreams that took me 40 bound.”

While a lot of other artists are gearing up to release their summertime party anthems, this softer, more reflective release from Mason could be the perfect catalyst to making her stand out from the pack as “Far Boy” did for her early career, intriguingly setting her next chapter in motion.

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)

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