While out hiking in the woods in her native Pacific Northwest, Brittany Collins started composing a tune telling someone how she was coming to terms with a childhood best left behind. She was determined to forge her own path and not be defined by her family. On further reflection it became obvious that little ditty was the umbrella that covered a number of songs she’d already composed. Voila, she took that collection into the studio and it became Things I Tell My Therapist, her full-length debut album.
Collins voice has a touch of grittiness and a little bit of soul that combines with her band’s country roots to deliver a record full of honesty and determination. The CD opens with The Apple, where she notes she was “born from the wreckage of her father’s mistakes”. Right out of the gate, you know she’s not going to pull any punches. Somebody has a little more of a pop edge to it, getting almost anthemic with a soaring guitar solo and an admission, “I come from wounded people”. Two Worlds returns to more of a country styling, in a song about how working in the city and living in the country is a metaphor for maintaining a healthy balance in life.
Don’t Go showcases Collins ability to inject a sultriness into her vocals that complements the idea of smoldering embers in a relationship, and not knowing whether it’s going to burst into flames or just die in the thick smoke. She also draws on that mystique in The Belvedere Hotel. It’s an opus in 3 acts–part mystery, part murder ballad–about an unexplained fatal fall. The album finishes with Adria, a number describing what Collins learned about kindness in a stint as a social worker. The snappy beat of the snare somehow gives it just the perfect amount of country flair.
Given the subject matter, you might think Things I Tell My Therapist is a downer of a record, but that’s nowhere near the case. It’s full of belief that your past doesn’t define you unless you let it. It’s clear that Brittany Collins has no intention of letting that happen and the strength she draws from deep inside herself is what country music is all about.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.