Hailey Steele has found quite a bit of success in country music recently. She's toured a few dates opening for Kelsea Ballerini, had some success with her most recent self-titled EP, and she co-wrote Kalie Shorr's debut single, "Fight Like A Girl" with Lena Stone, which is currently receiving quite a bit of airplay on the Sirius XM Station The Highway, and rising up the iTunes country charts fast. "Where I Thought I'd Been" is her first release since 2014, and it shows considerable improvement and a different side of Steele.
Musically, "Where I Thought I'd Be" is country song, lyrically and production wise. Steele's 2014 EP experimented more with pop sounds, and it was an incredibly solid pop EP. However, this is by far the best song she has put out, indicating that country music is where she is meant to be.
This song, like Megan & Liz's new track "Big Kids," is a shockingly truthful depiction of being in your twenties. In a lot of popular music, there is often a filter that is put on songs destined to be 'radio hits' in which songwriters gloss over the harder times of life and go straight to the parts that are good, and things that will make people want to get up and dance. The amazing thing about country music is that there is a reasonable amount of room to be honest and real. A song doesn't always have to display a picture-perfect scene, and songwriters can write about things that are really personal to them.
"Where I Thought I'd Be" speaks of where Steele expected herself to be in her twenties when she was younger, compared to where she actually is today. Going into the music industry is a terrifying choice, because it's an industry completely dependent of the whims of consumers, and there's not enough room for everyone to be a star. And of course, even some artists that are extremely talented never get their big break. Steele isn't a Carrie Underwood yet, but she's heading that way. The fact that she can be so honest and open is going to be the key to her success.
Overall rating: 4 ½ crowns
This song, like Megan & Liz's new track "Big Kids," is a shockingly truthful depiction of being in your twenties. In a lot of popular music, there is often a filter that is put on songs destined to be 'radio hits' in which songwriters gloss over the harder times of life and go straight to the parts that are good, and things that will make people want to get up and dance. The amazing thing about country music is that there is a reasonable amount of room to be honest and real. A song doesn't always have to display a picture-perfect scene, and songwriters can write about things that are really personal to them.
"Where I Thought I'd Be" speaks of where Steele expected herself to be in her twenties when she was younger, compared to where she actually is today. Going into the music industry is a terrifying choice, because it's an industry completely dependent of the whims of consumers, and there's not enough room for everyone to be a star. And of course, even some artists that are extremely talented never get their big break. Steele isn't a Carrie Underwood yet, but she's heading that way. The fact that she can be so honest and open is going to be the key to her success.
Overall rating: 4 ½ crowns
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