Call me a believer. I haven’t heard of Xolex until now, and I’m convinced she’ll be a part of country music’s future for many years. Her new single “Sure Know How to Pick ‘Em” is an instant earworm that stakes its territory with listeners less than a minute in and builds on that with effortless skill. She’s singing from personal experience that imbues the single with added conviction. However, the Iowa-born singer never goes too far. She shows distinguished control each step of the way.
URL https://www.xolex-official.com/
She sings with utmost confidence rather than strident melodramatics. It’s always possible for attentive listeners to tell the difference between singers who wail without reason and performers who tailor their voices to the song. You can hear Xolex paying careful attention to the arrangement rather than trying to impose her will over the instrumentation.
The rock-solid structure of the song plays to her strengths. It has clearly defined verses, an obvious pre-chorus, and a refrain that plays off one another while holding their ground as distinct movements in the arrangement. The twang-laden electric guitar provides an outstanding instrumental counterpoint to Xolex’s voice during the verses. It eventually rips with a coherent and ass-kicking guitar solo near the conclusion.
The steadily mounting energy of the performance is another highlight. Incorporating handclaps for added percussive value during the cut’s pre-chorus is a simple yet effective touch, and revisiting that addition for the track’s brief bridge is smart. It injects a little extra verve into the song’s second half without ever sounding overstated.
I’m a huge fan of the guitar playing on this track. It evokes a bluesy flavor without dragging the song too far in that direction and crackles with attitude, and I especially like how the guitar solo builds sensibly. It is not just Flash for Flash’s sake. It embodies the overall aesthetic of the single. Xolex’s singing is not flash at all, but ample evidence during this performance suggests there’s very little she can’t do behind the microphone.
The song’s lyrics are another strong point for me. It communicates her constant chagrin at finding herself with the wrong guy without ever devolving into self-pity and rife with sassy humor. The well-chosen images she comes up with help drive that point home in an easy-to-understand way. It’s never simple-minded. Nevertheless, Xolex always communicates with her audience in a manner that’s easy to comprehend.
https://open.spotify.com/track/4bRAJy1x9vYZOUNUlWwr7S
She has crafted a bold, attitude-filled number guaranteed to draw in new fans. Xolex has abundant talent that she’s barely scratching the surface of, but “Sure Know How to Pick ‘Em” gives us enough of a glimpse of her gifts to be sure we will be hearing more of what she can do in the future. I am ready for more and suspect you will be after a single listen.
I didn’t know what to expect when I started this. I feared a paint-by-numbers pop country track. Instead, I got a slice of something I won’t easily forget.
Martha Horsby
