Single Review: ‘Half Broke Horses’ – Jaida Dreyer
12 years ago Liv Carter 2
Country singer-songwriter Jaida Dreyer has been patiently working on her music in the last few years, writing with some of Nashville’s best songsmiths, and perfecting her live performance by hitting the road with Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley and Eric Church.
Dreyer grew up traveling, showing horses since her age was still expressed in single digits, and soaking up every aspect of life. There must be enough characters, situations, and life lessons in her upbringing that it can all keep the entire staff of any publishing company busy for a couple of years. As a songwriter she luckily is allowing herself to look inside for inspiration and ‘Half Broke Horses’ is the beautiful result of that. The song references her parents’ broken marriage and its effect on her own relationship choices. The horse analogy adds poetry and helps illustrate the frustration and sadness inherent in the doomed battle of trying to hold on to a free-spirited partner, much like, I would imagine, the feeling of having to turn loose a horse with championship potential.
A point of strength in the writing is that it doesn’t overcomplicate things. The four writers – Dreyer was joined by Brad and Brett Warren, and Lance Miller – employ simple phrases, letting the emotional content speak for itself. ‘Ooh ooh, you can’t fence ’em in / ooh ooh, they were born to run and then / you think you’ve got ’em where you want ’em / and then they leave you all alone,’ she softly laments in the chorus. Producer Byron Gallimore knows just where to pitch this song, the sweeping landscape where horses roam reflected in the ethereal fiddle lines. He refuses to let the arrangement swell, keeping the song intimate, and keeping the focus on Dreyer’s vocals.
She has a very distinctive voice and might have her detractors because of that. But she knows just how to use it to full effect, and when she keeps that tremble in her vocal, for this song at least, it adds an endearing vulnerable quality. This song wouldn’t be nearly as memorable if it was belted out totally flawless.
‘Half Broke Horses’ will impact radio on February 25.
Liv Carter
She holds several certificates from Berklee College of Music, and a certificate in Positive Psychology from UC Berkeley.
Her main influences are coffee, cats, and Alexander Hamilton.
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