JENNY TOLMAN FT. AARON RAITIERE- If We're Not Careful - Old Sol Records

A songwriter’s notebook opens a portal in time through its pencil scratched definitions within the unfinished ideas that played a pivotal role on the path to where they’re at today.  But every so often one of those pieces of the past will find the right timing to re-emerge into the here and now, becoming a parallel juxtaposition between what was and what is.

For hitmakers Jenny Tolman and Aaron Raitiere, “If We’re Not Careful” is not only a snapshot of where each of them was 9 years ago in their songwriting careers, but it’s a living, breathing testament to how solid they’ve always been at crafting a heartfelt idea into song.

With a soft float atop the fiddle laced melody, there’s a blissfulness that radiates the instrumentation to carry the tone of the falling in love lyric as it guides the listener into that teetering moment of absolutely knowing that what you have is getting very real while fighting that to keep that last brick of your protective wall from crumbling down.

Heart-raced feelings in the opening verse allude to the undeniable truth that they each know something special is budding on the very near horizon; “it’s getting too good, it feels too right,” “I make you laugh, you make me smile,” etc.

Struggling the straddled line between not allowing your heart fall with completely falling head over heels, the painted picture of what life together forever can look like throughout the second verse adds a Normal Rockwell snapshot of them having a house, a dog, a white picket fence, and a couple of good kids, while the chorus hangs tightly to the thread as it continues to break, spelling out their last ditch efforts at protecting their hearts from falling in too deep:

“If we’re not careful

We’re gonna fall madly in love

Stuck together forever and ever

Until we both turn back to dust

No one else will be yours

No one else will be mine

It will be just the two of us for all time

If we’re not careful”

The ability to capture the emotions of such commonly felt anxious exhilaration is a place reserved for the songwriters who are hailed as the best of the best. But the remarkable melodic choices made with “If We’re Not Careful” to match the emotional drive of the lyrics with such expert precision, raises both Tolman and Raitiere to an entirely different level that shines an early spotlight on their pure raw talent.

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)