As Nashville-based band Dallas Ugly gears up to record their second album with Grammy winner Justin Ryan Francis, they have settled into a sound that is equal parts playful and mature. Their 2022 debut album, “Watch Me Learn”, was described by critics as “full of shimmering magic” (Under the Radar), “as unique as it is dreamy” (Glide), and “a record that deserves a lyric sheet”
Libby recalls how the song came from, “a reckoning about a sense of stagnation—in my life and personal growth. Nothing was bad but nothing was great either, and I knew it was time to blow my life up a little and make some space for new things”. The band’s ever-evolving sound makes for a fine backdrop for reimagining a life, there’s a mischievousness both to the playful bounce of the bass, and the almost comically twangy lead guitar, which wouldn’t sound out of place on a comedy western.
Atop it all is Libby’s vocal which is wonderfully contradictory, on the one hand, it sounds joyous, the playful pulsing melody delivered with a wink and a nod, even as the words depict a moment of anarchic release, “I must be looking for a fight with my future, I’ve got no reason why I should torch this ship and watch it die, I just think I get tired of feeling fine”. It’s the musical equivalent of pressing the big red button, of turning over a blank page in your life story, of letting it all burn and seeing what fresh shoots emerge from the fertile ash – thrilling, a little bit dangerous and an awful lot of fun,
Hailing from Nashville, Dallas Ugly are the trio of Libby Weitnauer, Eli Broxham, and Owen Burton,
The Fat Angel Sings 