The opening salvo from Cristina Vane's fourth album due in early 2025 has arrived in the shape of "You Ain't Special", a song that simply irresistible and refuses to let go the moment you start listening it. There's at least a couple of reasons for that, there's a refreshing live simplicity to it, what you see is what you get. There is tremendous guitar work from Cristina herself and from "Cousin" Kenny Vaughan familiar to UK fans for his work with Marty Robbins in the The New Superlatives. There's additional drum and bass and apart from a little clapping towards the end there is musically little else, yet once combined with Cristina's voice something special is created, sounding like classic country with some modern day attitude. It is positively jaunty as Cristina puts down her ex in the most pithy of ways.
"Holding out hope that's it's going to be a good one
The day's just starting and I feel like shit
Sitting on my step singing "How you do owe me
Forgetting that I didn't really want you first"
The chorus is a put down in the sweetest of voices, it doesn't need to be an acerbic delivery, the words are doing all the heavy lifting in that department.
"You ain't special - like your Mama said you was
And if you ain't special, I ain't got no more time for the two of us"
The second verse sees more of Cristina's
"Walking on, in the best of intentions
Looking real good from where I sit
People really love, taking up your time
If they can give it back when they're done with it"
A quick flick through Cristina's back catalogue finds songs with a sound not to dissimilar, a little more folky and a little more bluesy maybe, but lots of nuggets waiting to be found. With "You Ain't Special" there is the potential, there's no telling how much wider an audience she might pull in - it should be playing out across radios across the summer relentlessly if there is any justice in the world and it certainly has our interest piqued for future singles ahead of the album release.