Hello Reader,
Welcome back. Are you ready to learn about a new artist?
Brittany Davis, is a Kansas City native who was born blind. Brittany’s mother served time in prison, so Davis was raised by their grandmother. At the age of 3, Davis was playing piano trying to recreate birdsongs they heard outside their living room window. A few years later, Davis would begin to appreciate gospel and jazz music before being captivated by hip-hop and R&B in their teenage years. Davis’ musical exploration continued when the family moved to Seattle. A place where they would discover and appreciate Afro-punk, rock, and musicians within the black rock & roll scene.
Prior to their solo career, Brittany Davis was keyboardist in the band Painted Shield along with co-founder of the following excellent bands: Green River, Mother Love Bone, Temple of the Dog, Brad, and Pearl Jam, Stone Gossard, folk singer-songwriter Mason Jennings, and drummer Matt Chamberlain. The group has released two albums so far, the self-titled Painted Shield (2021) and Painted Shield 2 (2022).
In 2022, Davis released their solo debut EP, I Choose to Live EP. And on March 1st for your listening pleasure, comes their debut album titled, Image Issues via Loosegroove Records, a record label based in Seattle and formed by grunge musicians Stone Gossard and Regan Hagar. Image Issues is a 26-song album and Davis isn’t just the album’s songwriter and vocalist; they’re also a multi-instrumentalist that created nearly every sound on the album, all the beats and keys in addition to being an engineer and co-producer. Josh Evans co-produced and mixed the album. Ed Brooks mastered it. On the song “Never” Evan Flory-Barnes played bass guitar and D’Vonne Lewis did drum fills.
Davis says about the seven spoken word songs on the album titled, Treadmill Memories: “They’re like a sonic movie, the rhythm of exercise especially the clicking of a treadmill, the jarring nature of a machine that’s just relentless reminds me of the childhood abuse I endured. ‘Treadmill Memories’ is my inner dialogue…my attempt to keep up with the overload of information that I had to process at a young age. I’m playing both the abused and the abuser in those tracks, and by acting out those things, I’m exorcizing some of that trauma.”
And now something for your ears!
The validating and affirming “So Fly”:
(All credits and rights to Brittany Davis)
A story of perseverance. “Goons” on ACL Radio during SXSW in 2023:
(All credits and rights to ACL Radio and Brittany Davis)
Can you feel the groove in “Sepricon”?:
(All credits and rights to Brittany Davis)
Overall Image Issues is a beautiful examination into Brittany Davis life through the artist themself. They use gospel piano, house beats, jazz chords, hip-hop grooves, and self-made samples to create fantastic melodies that are paired perfectly with Davis vocals, vocal effects and lyrics. I love that Davis played most of the instruments on each song, with exception of help on bass guitar and drum fills on one song, “Never.” The lyrics are heart on your sleeve honest, and vulnerable to Davis’ soul, and cathartic to the listener as well as the artist, I hope. Davis examines their existence and many of their relationships with not only themself but with others and the world around them. That being said, the themes are often bleak, dark, but there is optimism present. Song by song this album is a journey that flows well. I celebrate the boldness to not only create music that is 26 tracks on a single album but to also release it to the public as is. Kudos to all involved in that process as a 20+ song album is not common within the industry in 2024. It works well. The album is well produced, mixed and the overall sound is great. Excellent debut, Brittany Davis.
In the following song by song explanation of Image Issues, I decided to group the Treadmill Memories series together, even though as a listener you do not hear them consecutively. There is enough commonality and shared theming. “Treadmill Memories I” opens the album Image Issues with treadmill sound coupled with lyrics of self-doubt loneliness, shame and abuse. The second in the treadmill series, Treadmill Memories II” has lyrics that mention shame due to abuse, loneliness, self-image and death. “Treadmill Memories III” has Davis feeling severely defeated, recalling abuse and seeking religious based affirmations. “Treadmill Memories IV” features treadmill and piano and abuse, fear and doubt. The next treadmill entry, “Treadmill Memories V” has Davis recalling fear, abuse, self-doubt and wanting to be loved over treadmill sound. In “Treadmill Memories VI” has Davis recalling childhood abuse and experiencing frustration, loneliness, defeat and physical insecurities over a piano driven beat accompanied by the treadmill sound. The final “Treadmill Memories VII” features the expected treadmill beat over lyrics of that relatable inner monologue voice of self-doubt. The voice you may hear where you’re almost past something and the same voice/another one tells you otherwise. You almost beat it. As a listener, looking at this series as a whole, I think it was cathartic in that Davis exercises a lot of self-demons and trauma that she intended to.
In the song, “Image Intro” Davis delivers spoken word to the listener in transparent language about what the album is about, the ride you’ll go on while listening and the struggles Davis’ faces. The melody is a series of noises including computer glitch-like noises and several ‘outside noises.’
Building upon the previous tracks and exploring further into their origins and what makes them who Davis is the song “Sho Nuff,” which has honest lyrics about how Kansas City is home, how it raised them, with an ending that express Davis’ frustration. The melody is simplistic hip hop and complimentary in that the melody allows Davis vocal delivery to shine.
“Lashes” is a story told of someone who went to prison and its brutal effect on their family. The layered vocals create a choral effect, enhancing the message of the lyrics.
“Through the Motions” features tuned vocals and later on in the song, more haunting vocals from Davis. The song uses refrains and lyrics to create a cyclical effect, literally through the motions putting the listener in the middle of that experience. The melody and its production beat further that monotonous effect. It is perfectly captured, expressed and executed.
The song “Coming” explores dark themes. Specifically, Armageddon. The melody once again is well paired and allows Davis vocals to stand out and its production beat drives the song forward.
“Daddy’s Gerl” is full of gratitude. The lyrics are a love letter and homage to Davis’ father. Davis shares their faith a bit with religious appreciation as well. There’s a lot of variety in the vocal delivery from Davis’ normal voice, to tuned vocals to vocal effects during refrains that create a layered, choral sound. The melody is a slow-paced old school style R&B jam.
“I’m Sick” continues that old school R&B sounding melody and pairs it with lyrics of intense anxiety and skepticism.
In “Follow My Lead” Davis explores themself both physically: who they are, how others see Davis and how the world sees them. Towards the end the vocals compare Davis to a dog and succinct allegories are used for that narrative. Once again, choral vocal effects again used in the refrains to great success. The melody is funky, driving and R&B at its core.
“Kari’s Face” features Davis knowing someone else is suffering, and relates to them, wanting to help that person as well as examining whom Davis physically is and how others may see her. The melody is electronic forward.
“Halfway” is the inner monologue of self-doubt that is also paired with a devil’s advocate of positivity. The melody is piano driven and once again pairs well with Davis’ varied vocal deliveries.
“So Fly” Davis offers validating and affirming words through a series of refrains. The production beat is positive, warm and charging forward in tone. It is a very easy to dance along to.
In “Fallout” tales of a toxic relationship. Using the radioactive verbiage really drives the toxicity home. The melody is based on an R&B beat, with tuned vocals from Davis and a piano that also stands out.
The song “Goons” uses refrains to open the song, building up the melody with layered vocals to create a beautiful choral effect to tell a story of perseverance.
The next song, “Never” is a rap at its core with standout drum fills by D’Vonne Lewis and bass guitar by Evan Flory-Barnes and Davis uses an echo effect on the refrains and the lyrics tell a story of appreciation and gratitude.
“Sepricon” opens with a clapped beat amidst a wonderfully funky groove. Davis drops in with hip hop delivery featuring lyrics that hype them up.
“Image Issues” is the titular song in which Davis begins the song shouting out their grandma and dad. The lyrics again are vulnerable and honest. Davis used tuning and layered vocals to create a lasting effect on the refrain. The melody is carried by a hip hop production beat.
The following song, “Wanted You to Know” has lyrics that are a homage, remembrance to Davis’ little brother along with talking about violence on the streets accompanied by finding solace in religion. The melody has elements of an R&B and also a hip hop beat over Davis rap vocal delivery.
“Trading Secrets” features lyrics that have Davis talking about their abuse. It’s a journey that sees acceptance and anger. The delivery of the refrains contrast well the normal verse. The beat is funky and electronic beat heavy.
The final track on the album, “Soft As the Sand” has a piano driven R&B beat. The lyrics tell of love and desires for the future grounded in that love. To me, the lyrics work as a relationship with another human or a present-day Davis looking at their past self, trying to move forward, onward.
Image Issues gets 4 out of 5 Scum Drops from me. It is a very good album. In the upper echelon of 4 Scum Drop scale, relative to all 2024 releases. See here for more info on our review system. Image Issues is a great debut for Brittany Davis in which they tell us about themselves, heart on their sleeve. As a listener the album is cathartic, an exercise in moving forward. There is outstanding instrumentation and production choices throughout the album. It is a well put together album and Davis shines often. Great sonic quality. Worth adding to your collection on any format.
Image Issues Track listing (song length)
- Treadmill Memories I (0:46)
- Image Intro (2:37)
- Sho Nuff (1:37)
- Lashes (1:08)
- Treadmill Memories II (1:05)
- Through the Motions (2:43)
- Coming (3:55)
- Treadmill Memories III (0:46)
- Daddy’s Gerl (4:30)
- Treadmill Memories IV (0:27)
- I’m Sick (0:50)
- Follow My Lead (3:11)
- Kari’s Face (2:43)
- Halfway (1:35)
- So Fly (2:33)
- Fallout (4:44)
- Treadmill Memories V (0:41)
- Goons (2:00)
- Never (3:44)
- Sepricon (3:15)
- Image Issues (3:06)
- Treadmill Memories VI (1:06)
- Wanted You to Know (4:32)
- Treadmill Memories VII (0:33)
- Trading Secrets (4:41)
- Soft As the Sand (3:07)
Total runtime: 61:55
I’ll always advocate that you take the time to listen to every album in its entirety. This process is usually an hour or less from start to finish. Along the way, you’ll discover your own favorite songs without the influence or bias of others. After a few listens on my own, the songs that are highlighted in green font above are my favorite songs on the album.
To find more Brittany Davis content, a good place to start is their website here.
Thank you for reading and supporting good music.
Until next time,
Alex
Scummy Water Tower Productions co-founder, reviewer, business manager, and editor. Thank you for visiting this site: scummywatertower.com, and YouTube for Water Tower Sessions!
Contact me: alex@scummywatertower.com
