100 Greatest Songs of the 20’s so Far #62 Joyce Wrice ft. Lucky Daye – Falling In Love

Released: 2021

Kelefa Saneh’s excellent book on music history Major Labels breaks everything down into seven of it’s major constituents, from Country to Punk. Seen through a distinctly American lense, what it reveals in places will come as surprise to British eyes and by extension ears, that detail being the shocking levels of exclusion between one genre and the rest.

In this world Country is almost exclusvely the domain of white artists, with the possibility of crossover strictly in the hands of radio playlisters, who kept what their majority female audience heard within a fairly narrow arc. The same too the author says was true of R&B, even when it spread it’s wings and rebranded to soul. Eventually too that handle became passé, prompting a further subtle change of identity to neo-soul.

This discussion could go on forever, but even if you drive a flatbed and count the rodeo as your second favourite pastime, why would you want to deny yourself the perfection of Joyce Wrice’s nattily retro whateveritis on Falling In Love? Leaning heavily on the likes of Aaliyah and Brandy, she takes Lucky Daye along with her, a foil who perfectly roughs up the song’s otherwise ultra smooth surfaces. Will Dolly like it? Probably. It’s time these walls came down, sugar.