Disclaimer: this is not a country music song, but the good thing about running one’s own website is being able to decide exactly what goes on it. And when a terrific song comes along that’s not country music, there’s no reason not to cover it.
‘You Be You’ by duo This Way North is a fantastic piece of alt-pop/rock that provides four minutes of being swept away and also absorbed. Guitarist Leisha Jungalwalla and drummer Cat Leahy both sing on the track, their voices swirling around each other and melding at just the right places. The song is about honouring the differences in each partner in a relationship, rather than fighting against them, and that respect for each other and actual delight in the differences can be heard in the performance of the song.
‘You Be You’ was written on the road: the duo have been living in a van for the past three years in Canada and Australia, also travelling in New Zealand. Recorded in Nashville in January this year, it’s the first single from their upcoming EP Vol. 3, the finale of a trilogy of EPs they’ve released since 2016.