While many tend to see Country as a simple, laid-back genre of music, this is actually a common misconception. Yes, Country can often serve as a vessel to remind people of the good times, but this is because it’s a genre built around grounded, personal feelings. This quality makes it great for happy songs, but as Ashley Puckett shows off on her new single “Tequila,” the genre also works perfectly for more sentimental, emotional themes.
“Tequila” is a single that’s, as you’d expect, all about drinking to drown away your sorrows. Now, alcoholism is a serious topic, one that’s deeply personal for many people with plenty of impact on countless lives. Singing about a topic like this requires a fair amount of nuance and forethought. So, how does Ashley Puckett handle this problematic topic?
Smartly, “Tequila” avoids many of the common songwriting pitfalls surrounding this topic by making the song deeply personal and upsetting. It’s not necessarily a statement on alcoholism, but instead, it conveys how one can be swayed to drink deeply. In the case of this single, what leads Ashley to her problems are the ways they fail to come together and end up with her drinking all over again.
While she acknowledges it’s not a good situation to be in or a healthy habit to fall into, she perfectly sells the idea of drinking to forget issues and problems in life. This strong idea builds the emotional backbone of the song, and it works phenomenally well. While on the surface, all that’s taking place is someone talking into their glass of Tequila, the ideas run much deeper, and we greatly enjoy that.
Pair this with Ashley’s delivery and the fantastic production, and you get a single that’s a strong show for the artist. Every element of the song comes together to form a cohesive and powerful whole, one that you don’t need to relate to to empathize with. It’s impressive stuff for a first time songwriter, especially one who can perform their own songs this well.
Overall, “Tequila” is a fantastic single from Ashley Puckett, and a great showcase of her skill as a singer and songwriter. It’s surprising that this is her first self-penned single, as the writing is layered and insightful in ways usually only seasoned songwriters know how to do. We can’t wait to see what’s next for Ashley, and we hope she keeps up this pedigree of quality in writing she’s established.
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