On first listen, the Pistol Annies’ new single “Hush Hush” immediately stands out as being their hardest rocking release to date. It sounds more like something one might expect to hear on one of Miranda Lambert’s solo albums than the Annies’ traditional-leaning debut. It seems the Annies are getting a harder radio push this time around – definitely a good thing since country radio has been largely in want of a good girl group for the past ten years.
The production may be a bit more polished, but the song’s sentiment is anything but glossed-over. “Hush Hush” offers a darkly comic look at the volatile holiday gatherings of a dysfunctional family, while also slyly winking at every family’s need to sweep dirty secrets under the rug and put their best foot forward. “Hide your tattoo, put on your Sunday best, pretend you’re not a mess, be the happy family in the front pew,” the three Annies sing during the song’s closing bridge.
Though something of a sonic departure for the Pistol Annies, “Hush Hush” does not get away from the characteristics that made them an outstanding group in the first place,
nor does it forsake its identity as a country record with an arrangement that simultaneously rocks and twangs. “Hush Hush” is smart, self-aware, packed with personality, and best of all, it turns widely-relatable frustrations into a reason to chuckle. At a time in which many country hits take place in an imaginary backwoods utopia, the Pistol Annies here serve up another welcome slice of reality.
Written by Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe, and Angaleena Presley
Grade: A-
Listen: Hush Hush
This new music from The Pistol Annies is really exciting. The music on their first CD has such a great sound and I’m so glad that their new stuff seems to be following the same trend. Thank you for sharing! (sidenote: I come from a family of 60 cousins so this song is pretty relatable…)
I just started a country music blog myself in which I recommend one obscure or forgotten country song per week. I try to explore the stories told through the song along with anecdotes about how the song came to be. The songs will range from Hank Williams to Luke Bryan and it would mean the world if you could check it out and give me some feed back. Thank you so much!
http://steelguitars2memphis.blogspot.com
Does anyone know what the title and artist of an old (50’s, 60’s,) song with the lyrics : I married my my maggie, she fit me just right i could love her all day an all nigh….(chorus)its a fallin apart a fallin apart we kept ours together but the whole world is falling apart.
Please help. I remember this song that my father used to play on a 45 record and its driving me nuts.
I am loving Hush Hush! Can’t wait for the new album o come out in May!