Written by: Jen Dan
A resident of Santa Rosa, Florida, Tanya Gallagher is following two different career paths; that of a cartographer for her geographical region and that of an Americana-steeped, guitar-playing singer-songwriter.
It’s the latter which pricks up listeners’ ears, with Gallagher just releasing her captivating One Hand On My Heart EP. The record is a collection of pop, folk, and alt-country-style songs that are full of heart and vibrancy. Gallagher’s vocals are earthy and assured, drawing parallels to such artists as Fiona Apple and Sheryl Crow.
The rich and rewarding “Dark Side” features Gallagher’s ruminative, yet direct vocal tone supported by deep reverb guitar and plainer banjo twang, a higher, wavering organ press, bright percussive clangs, and shuffling drum rhythm.
Gallagher slip-slides through her lyrics easily, her voice rising with emotion and then laying low with a casual verve. She quickly switches from a first-person point of view to brief storytelling vignettes throughout the track.
The rapid, rambling stream-of-consciousness flow keeps the attention while the music moves along with Gallagher’s thoughts about rejection and heartbreak (“Just be honest / if it’s not something you want / …with my head high I will move on”).
“Dark Side” features Beau Bedford (Leon Bridges, Paul Cauthen) on organ, and, like the rest of the EP’s songs, Cooper Heey (Maren Morris) on drums, with Daniel Mendez (Noah Gundersen, The Native Sibling, Alexi Murdoch) as producer.
Find out more about Tanya Gallagher
