Feelings are never wrong. It’s OK to feel whatever you’re feeling right now in this moment. From the sunniest of days to the most ravaging of thunderstorms, human beings are bestowed with the capacity to feel every possible shade of emotion, for better or worse. Often times, it’s a weary headspace born out of overwhelming sadness and a most basic desire to be loved and wanted. Nashville indie-folk singer-songwriter Suzie Brown, who also does tremendous work as a cardiologist, offers up a gentle, compassionate reminder to let your feelings flow as a fountain out of the mountaintop. With new single “C’mon Rain,” premiering today, a weeping mid-tempo co-written with Hillary McBride and Robby Hecht (Caroline Spence, The Steel Wheels), she urges the listener to lean into the flood as best they can. “I can see sky turn gray through my bedroom window / It’s heavy / I’m ready to let it all go, gonna let it all go,” she swings open her emotional flood gates with one sharp, plainspoken lyric.
The drums roll in like thunder claps, sending a cascade of lightning through her bones, and the song swells to mirror the oncoming downpour. Brown, a voice hanging by a thread, plants herself smack dap in its path and readies for impact. “Don’t tell me that it’s gonna be ok, that it happens for a reason / This sadness is my sadness / It belongs to me,” she sings, deflecting the many worn out platitudes hurled from onlookers. The two-ton weight crushing her shoulder blades doesn’t care. “You can’t tie it up with a pretty bow / All the old cliches you know / Can’t keep me dry when I just wanna finally let it fall,” she continues to allow her body to drain any and all emotions right onto the record. Considering today’s social climate around mental health, Brown’s performance is an exceptionally warm and moving contribution to readjusting what it means to be afflicted with misery and self-loathing.
On the song, Brown writes to B-Sides & Badlands over email, “When I’ve felt the saddest, I have taken so much comfort in having permission be as sad as I am. The last thing I’ve wanted is for someone to ‘look on the bright side’ (which only serves to invalidate how I’m feeling). This song is for all of us in our dark moments, to just let us be, no apologies needed,” she says.
Known for her gutting sensitivity and lush songwriting skill, Brown has recorded and released several solo studio albums, including 2017’s Sometimes Your Dreams Find You, a culmination of her move to Nashville and uncovering new layers to her craft. Together with her husband and fellow music maker Scot Sax, she’s also issued Our Album Doesn’t Like You Either in 2015 and toured the country quite relentlessly. Throughout each stage of her work, comfortably situated between traditional folk and pop music, the flourishing Boston-raised artist uncorks various conversation pieces on living, loving, laughing and losing.
“C’mon Rain” anchors Brown’s new album, Under the Surface, set to drop everywhere July 26.