I admit that I’ve known of Betty Who for several years now. I’m pretty sure I wrote about her cover of “I Love You, Always Forever” for another digital magazine I was writing for back in 2017 — but I never paid much attention to any of her other original songs, which I’m realizing now, BIG MISTAKE.
Through a random run-in with songwriter/producer Martin Johnson (Boys Like Girls) on a random street corner early last year, I found out he was in town to finish work on a new album — which turned out to be Betty’s album, BIG! (released with BMG October 2022).
If you knew of Martin’s project The Night Game, you’ll recognize some of the collaborators on this new one like producer Brandon Paddock — who also worked on The Night Game previously. And, if you liked ANY of The Night Game songs with their throwback 80’s leaning instrumentation and production — you will love every ounce of BIG!
Some truly standout songs are “I Can Be Your Man,” which has a sort of Shania Twain-esque “I feel like a Woman” vibe, with speak-sung sassy phrases that are reminiscent of Shania’s infamous, “Let’s go girls!”; There’s also “Blow Out My Candle,” which has possibly one of the best lyrics of all time: “You can blow out my candle, but you’ll never put out my fire.” Next, there’s the clearly Paul Simon-inspired “She Can Dance” and of course, the title track, “BIG!” which not only has the perfect message of not ever trying to fit in/always being yourself, but also one of the crispiest snares we’ve heard since about 1990.
Though it appears Betty’s past songs were more pop leaning — BIG! Leans into an 80’s pop rock vibe, with just a hint of Nashville in there, which makes for some of her best songs to date. Lucky for us, she’s announced a new tour starting in February — so you have just enough time to learn the album so you can sing along in-person.
Check out the Tour dates here: http://www.bettywhomusic.com/
And don’t forget to follow the Official Neon Soapbox Playlist, to listen to our current favorites!