The Red Betty, Brazilian-born New Jersey based singer/songwriter, returns with bold new emotions in her second studio album Icehouse. Her first album, Couch Fables, explored the artist’s personal history and beginnings, whereas in Icehouse the rise and fall of a relationship is chronicled through seven distinct tracks. The Red Betty describes her album as a look into the “many facets of relationships,” that is both “mature and vulnerable.” In her strong warm voice, the audience can feel the singer’s vulnerability and eagerness to connect. Icehouse, with sweet and nostalgic instrumentals, explores the complex feelings within relationships and wills its audience to understand and relate.
“Six Feet Under Love,” is the opening and title track of the record. An appropriate song to start an album about people’s complex feelings for one another, as the song describes the love, longing, and devotion one has despite the fights and breakups. The fiddles play a charming if sorrowful melody that is steadied by the drums like a heartbeat. “Black Eyed Susans Way,” is the second accompanying track which speaks about being “call[ed] home.” If the introduction to Icehouse is a desperate declaration of life-long love, the second entry is a determined refocus on home, on a safe place, whether that be a person or other. Slow to build, but eventually a soaring melody with subtle harmonies, “Black Eyed Susans Way,” brings a sense of peace before the rocking “Sinners & Believers.”
The album concludes its first half with “Sinners & Believers,” a decidedly funky track that delves more into The Red Betty’s personal blend of South American percussion. The guitars add to the nostalgic feeling of the song with their callbacks to classic Americana melodies and riffs. The sinners and believers of this track seem to be people stuck in love or rather stuck in a relationship in which one person sins by lying but the other person sins by perpetually being hopeful things will change. A tragic story communicated in a mellow catchy rhythm; “Sinners & Believers” caps the end of the record’s first half on heartbreaking love.
It is here that the album’s narrative pivots, marked by the church hymn “2-Bit Sermon.” The organ, a unique but crucial inclusion, instantly immerses the listeners, placing them in a church with The Red Betty and her pure soft voice. More of a country ballad than the other songs on the record, “2-Bit Sermon” encapsulates the soul of the album by contemplating the complicated and different paths in life and where each of them might lead at one time or another.
To fully express the conflicting emotions in relationships, The Red Betty starts from adoration and yearning to foolish hope, and then after rethinking life at the halfway point, she emerges with the encouraging “House Of A Broken Heart.” While seemingly despondent with the bluesy harmonicas and guitars, the singer makes “peace” with her feelings and decides to find her “peace mind” in this “House Of A Broken Heart.”
The Red Betty continues her upward trajectory out of the pain caused by her relationship and decides to forget all those that hurt her and instead “Raise’em Glasses.” A jaunty number perfect for dancing, with quick guitars and bouncing drums, the singer “ain’t worried about nobody else; if you make me cry forget the past; I ain’t dwelling on all the rest.” An anthem for looking forward, despite the past; it brings a smile to the face, especially with the energetic guitar solos and comforting vocals from The Red Betty.
The stage is set for the final song in this journey. For the listeners who have followed the arc of this relationship from start to finish, and hopefully relating to it in their way, The Red Betty has one final message to convey in “The Love I Needed.” “The Love I Needed” talks about new love and asking to not be “[left] behind.” The percussion comes in strong and reassuring, while the chorus of voices at the end adds a feeling of community and connectedness to the song and entire album. There is a desire to be loved by someone, to stay united and together.
The Red Betty examines her relationships and relationships between people around her through her second album Icehouse. With immense maturity and vulnerability, The Red Betty explores the complicated mess of feelings that are relationships and dares to ask if her audience can and will relate. A medley of sound that both honors classic Americana music but also pushes it further with influence from South American percussion, Icehouse is a heartwarming, gut-wrenching addition to country music.
By Annamaria Lund
