REVIEW: Taylor Colson — “Tiffany’s” (Single)

Alluding to an emotion that she simply can’t reveal through the majesty of her poetry alone, the lead vocal Taylor Colson affords her new single “Tiffany’s” is undisputedly the most sterling element for us to tune into in this second official release to bear her name, but hardly the only reason I’d recommend it to pop fans everywhere this fall. With her voice as a razor-sharp weapon of evocation, Colson weaves together one of the more striking ballads I’ve heard from an indie artist in “Tiffany’s,” and whether enjoying the song in its full-color or piano-based versions, it’s almost certain to give you a thrill.

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Beyond the singing here, our leading lady shows off some amazing lyrical skills that push the boundaries of what she established for her identity in the 2020 debut “Hurt Me” without question. She isn’t holding back from painting us a picture through both metaphors and straightforward — but highly melodic — poetry of the most direct strain. She isn’t sourcing any of the chills in this single from the synth, but instead a powerful internal desire to be heard; it’s this emotion that bleeds into the narrative and punches everything home in both renditions of the song, and I think you’ll be inclined to agree when you hear them for yourself.

The piano is presented quite crisply in both mixes, but in the case of the music video, it’s the perfectly uncomplicated backdrop to complement what Colson is hitting us with from behind the mic. She’s got so much unforced prowess as a vocalist, and when put in the right circumstances as she has been here, she unleashes a really rich tonal presence that reminds me of the midcentury pop goddesses who wholly defined the genre well before the arrival of the British invasion and R&B’s explosion.

Despite the total lack of surrealism-branded frills, I wouldn’t hesitate to say that “Tiffany’s” would fit in with the better half of the cerebral pop movement we’re hearing out of the United States this year. There’s a moderate postmodernity to the barebones stylization of the music video, and because it isn’t married to the grandiosity of the single version — but instead its own minimalistic rendition of the same song — it puts forth an entirely different perspective on the same narrative without getting too avant-garde about the material. That’s difficult to accomplish in this genre, let alone with a relative rookie at the helm of the ship.

APPLE MUSIC: https://music.apple.com/album/id/1531863124

I loved what I heard in the first single Taylor Colson released this year, and from the looks of “Tiffany’s,” she’s not going to waste any of the momentum she’s got behind her budding career in favor of glossing over a natural, unrefined approach to songcraft. I want to hear more of what this young woman can do when there isn’t much other than a single melodic instrument in the room to guide her harmony — she’s got profound potential, and if there’s anything we can learn from this release and its companion video, it’s that she’s willing to exploit it in the most aesthetically-sensible of fashions.

Colin Jordan