CLAYTON MULLEN

                                                               "Sell This Truck" 

                                                                Independent Release

With the release of his four-track EP ‘South of Forever’ in the summer of 2022, followed by highly successful singles “Like That,” “You  Me + Country Song,” and “Whiskey On It,” Clayton Mullen used the second half of the year to quicky raise his status, growing his fan base by leaps and bounds on the back on 4 million cumulative streams.

He now continues forging into his 2023 with his latest effort, “Sell This Truck.”

The song, co-written by Jordan Walker and Jacob Davis, leans into a soft tempo that borrows from Texas influence and melds into a decisively Nashville sound to give us an attractive melody that instantly catches our ear and pulls us into the song where Mullen’s clean, though emotionally charged vocal, then takes over to hold us tightly as he paints the perfect descriptions through the opening verse of the used truck that he has up for sale:

“Runs great, cold air, got a little crack in the rearview mirror

New tires, last year, I’m just tired of it sitting here

Paints faded on the hood, for a truck this old that’s typical

V8 and 5.0, 4K or OBO, make me an offer. It’s gotta go”

Something he further defines in the second verse when he sings of the truck having a hitch that needs a ball on it, but it’s ability to pull a U-Haul is just fine.

However, underneath the surface you sense that this isn’t about selling a truck at all, but rather getting rid of the memories that haunt him every time he drives it. This deeper meaning is revealed through the heartbreak that he strikes in the chorus when transparently shares of the night that she walked out, called it quits, and kicked the door when she slammed it shut; fully admitting in the bridge: 

“I just can’t go down this road in this truck

I guess sometimes you gotta let go of what you love”

There’ve been several songs with this similar theme at radio over the past year, but each of them carries their own little nuisances that allow the artist to place their voice and emotions into the lyric. Mullen joins that list with “Sell This Truck,” as he gives the listener hints of remorseful regret that skillfully tells you that even though it’s never defined why she left, that perhaps he’s facing the mirror of his fault in it.

That ability to use his vocal to convey an emotional tug of heartstrings on the listener, combining with an uber attractive feel in the melody, should be more than enough to help make this resonate with his fans as Mullens continues forging his path by taking another step ahead on it.

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis) 

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