One of two singles planned for this year (quality, not quantity, is clearly Ms. Browning’s focus), Little Things is a stunning indie-flecked folk-pop song.
At just over three minutes in length, it somehow manages to feel like all manner of things and also not quite like any one thing at all. As it begins, it comes across as gentle and understated, but still unmistakably assured – the strummed rhythm of the lone acoustic guitar carrying the song along, like a train chugging along a track.
When the vocal is introduced, it’s sugar sweet with a gentle Emmylou-esque vibrato that’s barely detectable, but definitely there. Descriptive and evocative, the words transport the listener elsewhere, and we fill Texas-born Randle’s shoes and are immediately brought down and indeed, kept around, by a series of beautifully described “little things”.
We’re informed that the song is about “being an extremely sensitive person who notices everything”. Now based in Brooklyn, it was recorded at Skymall, an attic-level studio in Sunset Park, and we’re told there was a deliberate consciousness to come back to fun and play and lightness as an antidote to the moments of self-seriousness and dread.
The use of brass in the mix (which, it turns out, is not brass at all but Randle doing “mouth-trumpet”) recalls the work of The National or Bon Iver, and the overall tone of the song reminds us, in certain moments, of the best work of their superstar collaborator, the one and only Ms. Taylor Swift. There are also glimmers of her that shine through lyrically, specifically her tendency to dwell on observational elements and the way in which she strings these together.
At around halfway through the track, we’re introduced to what sounds like electronic percussion that adds a synthetic ’80s feeling to proceedings that we can honestly say we were not at all expecting.
What started life as a warm, introspective acoustic number is stripped back down to its bare bones by the end of the track, and we’re back to where we started.
Like a fusion of Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers, Soccer Mommy, and Laura Marling, Randle strikes just the right balance between folk, pop, and indie. Taken on a journey through dynamic instrumentation choices, excellent use of words, and an atmosphere that is perfectly balanced, Little Things is a huge success.
Written by Kinda Grizzly
