Sometimes the very obvious bares saying aloud because people can be forgetful. Other times it bares saying for the sake of making a very strong point, so here goes something obvious: LADYGUNN does not feature artists or songs we do not like. We stand by the releases we feature and the interviews we do, and we think each of these artists is doing something special deserving of praise and attention. Sometimes, however, a song so special comes along that it sort of blows everything else out of the water; that song for me is Denitia’s” Highways”. The most beautiful *new* song I’ve heard in a very long time.
Denitia Odigie’s musical focus has been, so far, one of hybrid Pop, Electronic, and R&B, in ways that have gotten her under the “Alternative” umbrella. She’s put her talent to work alongside American actor and singer Brian “Sene” Marc and she’s also composed for Films, TV shows, and advertising. This new song, however, has little to do with any of that, instead, it harkens back to Denitia’s own southern roots by adopting a genuine Country/Folk driven by her fantastic guitar.
Originally from Houston, Denitia had been roaming parts of the U.S. before settling in New York’s Hudson Valley. This constant moving-around is what inspired this song. She’s made a home out of a lot of places, and with each one, friends and loved ones have to be left behind; a piece of you stays with them, a piece of them comes with you wherever you go. That is “Highways”.
I hope I can communicate just how impactful “Highways” was to me. The song is so gorgeous and delightful that I’ve listened to it quite a lot today, and still I can’t help but get goosebumps here and there as I sink deeper into its familiar melody. The lyrics about moving on while carrying memories along struck a deep chord with me, bringing out a lot of my own powerful memories and emotions; I think it got very personal.
Denitia’s vocals are of course quite fantastic, and they lean more into what you would expect of the alternative-indie-folk side I described earlier, but I found that -again- it’s that guitar that just really ties everything together for me and makes it so I wouldn’t hesitate to call this a bonafide country and western song, one that’s far more worthy of the title than a lot of what you hear on modern playlists and radios of the genre nowadays. I’ll even say that -even though it feels fresh- this song reminded me a lot of Kris Kristofferson’s “Sunday Morning Coming Down” and Willie Nelson’s “On The Road Again”. It’s almost like a perfect balance between the moods of both songs, and if that’s not high praise enough then I don’t know what would be.
Denitia’s songwriting knows how to be wistful, nostalgic, optimistic, and even a little bit playful, this makes her -in my opinion- perfectly suited to revitalize the genre a little bit, so if she intends to keep this new sound moving forwards, she’s doing the world a huge solid, and she deserves your ears and your support, so go listen and stay tuned.
