Brandy Clark's "Girl Next Door" experiment

Brandy Clark has been universally declared one of the most traditional new female artists in country music, and one of the most respected. She's written dozens of songs for a with many big name artists, including Keith Urban's "Come Back To Me," "Two Rings Shy" with Miranda Lambert, many songs with Kacey Musgraves, and more. She's been nominated for two Grammys already for her debut record 12 Stories, but she, like her friend Musgraves, has been shunned by radio, and hadn't cracked the Top 50 until this song.

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"Girl Next Door" is an extreme change of pace from anything Clark has done before. The song experiments with electro-pop sounds, and the song sounds like what would happen if Miranda Lambert and Kelsea Ballerini wrote a song together. The pop influence is clear, and it's such a shock that a woman once known for sticking to the classic definition of country music would put out something like this. It's not bad, but it's surprising. Especially coming from Clark. 

However, the lyrics are very good and stay in the lane of Clark's older work, showing that she is and she always will be a country songwriter. The end of the chorus is the highlight of the song, as Brandy speeds up her delivery singing:

Then go next door and go right now
And don't look back, don't turn around
And don't call me when you get bored
Yeah, if you want the girl next door
Then go next door

This song is not bad, but it's not very 'Brandy Clark.' Of course, she can evolve any way she wants to, but "Girl Next Door" is not quite up to the standard of 12 Stories. But for pop-country music, this is probably one of the best songs we'll get from that genre all year. Big Day in a Small Town will be released on June 10, and the only way to go forward is to hope for an album that's a little more rootsy than this.
Overall rating: 3 ½ crowns

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