Avenue Beat celebrate all things female with their unabashed ode, “WOMAN.”
Hot off the presses of “F2020” (the hit track that went viral on TikTok, amassing millions of views in a matter of hours last June) comes a fluid pop number that serves as an equally solid follow up. “WOMAN,” starts off with swanky acoustic guitar, while narrator Savana Santos lets listeners in on her inner monologue: she’s trying to write a pop song by recreating the winning formula she used the first time, but to no avail. When her female friend walks in the room, it serves as instant inspiration, as the lyrics comparing women to a “masterpiece” start spilling out.
“What’s more beautiful than a woman/Nothing/Ain’t no fucking vibe like a woman’s lovin’/No drug ‘gon get you high like/Grabbing her hips/Working your way up and down her every inch/Kissing on the kitchen counter/Change my mind/What’s more beautiful than a woman,” Santos sings over an intoxicating acoustic pop beat with gentle, yet sultry backing harmonies from her besties and bandmates Sam Backoff and Sami Bearden, who sprinkle their dreamy harmonies like confetti over the mystifying track.
In a format where body positivity and LGBTQ-friendly lyrics don’t often make it into mainstream culture, “WOMAN” is refreshing and revitalizes what it means to be a modern woman making music in the country music capital of the world. “There’s so much body shaming, labeling, judging,” Bearden shared in a press release. “Truth is, your best friends are your girls… the people who’re there no matter what happens are your girls… when you wanna dig into whatever, something fun, something tragic, ultimately, it’s your girls.”
The bold, girl-power-anthem-meets-queer-friendly bop – arranged and produced by the group – comes from an all-woman trio of best friends who grew up together in Illinois. Avenue Beat is just old enough to drink and not afraid to drop an F bomb in radio-pandering Nashville, shaking up the sugar-coated genre of country-pop music when they dropped the wildly relatable “F2020” that essentially says what was on everyone’s minds during the dumpster fire of a year. Santos is unfiltered in sharing that her cat died before a global pandemic took the world by storm, leaving her as sad and broke as she was pre-pandemic, while adding “lonely and anxious and mad” to the mix that makes for a truly strong emotional cocktail.
After becoming a runaway hit on the social media platform, the song caught the attention from a range of stars including Maren Morris, Sara Bareilles and Will Smith, to name a few, with its fierce and inviting chants “put your hands in the motherfuckin’ air/If you kinda hate it here/And you wish that things would/Just like chill for like two minutes,” the latter line spoken like a genuine 21-year-old who’s just over it all.
The equally ear-grabbing remix featuring Grammy nominated R&B-soul singer Jessie Reyez adds an even darker and equally meaningful perspective – Reyez is brutally honest about not being able to see her brother’s kids since before the pandemic, as well as realizing she doesn’t have much appetite for fame (which she learned during a brief stint opening for Billie Eilish on the short-lived 2020 Where Do We Go? World Tour). Wrapped around a melodic and surprisingly soothing trap beat, the track earned a well-deserved spot on The New York Times’ Best Songs of 2020 list.
With a bonafide relatability factor, complimented with youthful antics, whimsical melodies and empowering statements, Avenue Beat has positioned themselves to be Nashville’s next breakout pop act — ain’t no fucking vibe like three women owning their voices and stepping into their power.
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