DawgGoneDavis’s singing style is definitely on the lighter side in all departments, but it should be noted that she’s yet to give us a halfhearted performance in the studio; in all honesty, she’s been giving us the exact opposite. Although the vocal she went within the new single “Love Wins” touches on a subtle side of the pop spectrum often relegated to the indie section regardless of the deeper aesthetics of the music, there’s an intellectual wit to its narrative that doesn’t get lost in the humorous translation. This is a singer and songwriter who has quickly learned how to make the most of her natural talents without having to lean on the tools a synthetic backdrop can afford her work, and in this performance, we find her sounding more confident than ever.
The rhythm of the instruments only works to reinforce the mood of the lyrics and advance the theme of “Love Wins” through a multifaceted means, leaving the very notion of this being another predictable pop number in the dust before we know what hit us. There’s an urgency to this performance that is unmistakable, but DGD is very careful as to how she’s going about injecting each verse with a bit of adrenaline. She’s neither rushing nor holding back, but setting the pace with her emotionality as much as she is the cadence of her words with the beat in the background. This is thoughtful pop music, debatably as much so as the genre can ever get without spilling into experimental realms, and it sounds amazing when delivered by DawgGoneDavis.
There’s a smoothness to the harmonies in “Love Wins” that had me excited right out of the gate, and I don’t think they’re the result of any filler components introduced into this mix, mostly because I couldn’t find any on my own. I think that you would be hard-pressed to find another indie player taking organic songwriting quite as seriously as this potently gifted artist still is in 2024, and while there’s still some room for her to grow into this identity she’s creating through the melodic strength of her new song; built on the foundations of her previous works, she’s asserting herself as a must-listen artist here.
It’s easy to be reticent to join in on the hype any new artist accumulates, but I can tell you now that the buzz surrounding DawgGoneDavis is fully credible, and her talent is a real force to be reckoned with. I’m ready to hear an LP from her after getting a taste of her most aggressive work so far in “Love Wins,” and if you haven’t already given this track a spin, you need to do so before July is over. This is starting to feel like a big summer season ahead for the indie movement in the American underground, and right now, DGD already has one heck of a leg up on the competition. From Kansas City to Las Vegas and beyond, it’s easy to understand why she’s still thriving and surviving with pop fans everywhere.
Rachel Townsend