"Tired Of You" by Abz Winter

Here I go again: I think that "Tired Of You" by Abz Winter which is due out on Friday is possibly her best to date. I expect you are a bit tired of hearing me say so virtually every review of her work which I write, but I defend myself on the grounds of it being my honest opinion based on the evidence. One thing you can depend on with Abz is that she moves forward every time.

 The verve of all her songs prevents any notion of "treading water" being applied to any release, but in detail the progression is always there to be found somewhere.

This time, I think that I might call the lyrics her most realised so far: always witty, this time there is a nimbleness & confidence in delivering a more structurally complex song.

 Otherwise, it's another step forward as Abz further explores the exciting possibilities of the new sound she's been experimenting with for a while now: a much more band orientated, punky rock one which musically suits the lyrics, her effervescent personality & given the power of her voice, complements that. There is no danger of the accompaniment drowning out what she's singing about: she glides over it effortlessly.

Abz keeps it real in terms of what her songs are about: not for her dropping into glib cliches or vague generalities: she sings about what she experiences or observes directly and so the words have authentic meaning with which her listeners can identify.

"Tired of You" celebrates "youthfulness…. keeping the humour of life, with an honest approach to friendships" and "a young person's rites of passage and the trials and tribulations within friendships". As she says, "we all have a group of friends with different personalities, this is about that friend who thinks they are different and needs constant validation, when we go out they are always flirting and bragging, but then they lack empathy for anyone else around them, they dominate all the conversations and somehow managing to belittle everyone else with their sly underhand comments".

Not for the first time, Abz deftly balances a sense of observation with a positive blueprint for their putting their house in order, so avoiding being purely negatively judgemental. She is far from blind as to what she sees & doesn't like, but humane enough to present not as a critic but one offering tough love.

You could of course simply dance along to this upbeat track or even shout along to the words, but given the thought & effort Abz has put into it, it would be respectful also to give some thought to the meaning she's given them.