Molly Tuttle- So Long Little Miss Sunshine
Label: Nonesuch
Producer: Jay Joyce
Emerging on the national music scene in the late 2010s, pristine vocalist and instrumental virtuoso Molly Tuttle has spent the better part of the last decade ascending to the inner-circle of respected musical royalty in the bluegrass and roots music scenes. At this point, she’s widely–and accurately–regarded as the queen to Billy String’s king in terms of leaders in the latest phase of the modern Newgrass movement. So, one can only imagine the purist pearl-clutching that must have been taking place as news spread that Tuttle and her bluegrass band, Golden Highway disbanded, and that she was subsequently replacing Union Station stalwart and dobro legend, Jerry Douglas to team with country-rock producer Jay Joyce for the recording of this, her fifth studio album.
Rest easy, bluegrassers. The sky is not falling, and no, Molly Tuttle does not abandon her artistic path or abort all of her critical goodwill on So Long Little Miss Sunshine. But you’re correct, she also doesn’t unveil a traditional, or even a merely progressive bluegrass set with it either. What she does do on Sunshine however is expand gorgeously and exponentially upon the potential that her prodigious talents have always afforded her. As for the concerns over Joyce’s presence? Fear not. In fact, Tuttle truly brings out the very best production work we’ve hard from him in quite some time. As the go-to producer for Eric Church and now Lainey Wilson, Joyce also emerged in the 2010s as the Nashville scene’s compass for artists like Carrie Underwood, Little Big Town, Zac Brown Band, and others when they felt the need to muddy up their glossy sound. Now, Joyce has at times been guilty of overindulging in these exercises, but he reigns in a perfect sonic balance for Tuttle throughout Sunshine. The production is never anything but organically crisp and spacious, clearing the path for Tuttle, her angelic pipes, and pristine instrumental talent to excavate an expanded sonic space that capably spotlights a nimble balance of both her formative roots and exploratory artistic curiosities.
With the one-two punch of “Everything Burns” and “The Highway Knows”, the set opens immediately with superlative guitar breakdowns and banjo fills, establishing a vibrant showcase setting for the instrumental gifts of Tuttle herself, as well as those of Joyce, and musicians like Ketch Secor (the frontman of Old Crow Medicine Show and Tuttle’s beau). This standard remains consistent throughout the record, regardless of the sonic palate. The lush “Golden State of Mind” takes her deep into adult-pop territory, while capturing a Golden Hour-era Kacey Musgraves-esque vibe and seemingly serving as a lyrical nod of the hat to her former band. For the duration of the track-list, we find Tuttle seamlessly cascading back & forth between rootsier and poppier soundscapes, whether it be the mountainous “Rosalee”, folk-pop jewels like “Summer of Love” or “Easy”, or the plucky punchiness of lead single, “That’s Gonna Leave A Mark”, which immediately has the feeling of a new signature in her growing canon of songs. And then there’s her left-turn cover of the 2012 Icona Pop/Charlie XCX electropop smash, “I Love It”. That this selection stands as one of the record’s purest bluegrass moments is one of those deliciously subversive choices that makes these types of progressive, pop-leaning records so much fun.
As ever with Tuttle though, it’s the pure song-craft of what’s presented here that gives her records their true heartbeat, impressive as the instrumental acumen and those angelic vocal turns may be. Her lyricism continues to grow more soulful, reflective, and clever with each progressive album. The central purpose of Sunshine feels like that of a travelogue through one’s thirties, and all of the growth, disappointment, surprises, and revelations that present themselves along the way. This is evident in a bevy of ways, whether it be the sassy self-worth of “Old Me (New Wig)”, which along with the fetching album art uses her lifelong affliction with alopecia as inspiration for a confident kiss-off. That maturation and comfort in one’s skin and present life-phase is also ever apparent in sweet, romantic moments like “Oasis”, “No Regrets”, and especially album closer, “Story of My So-Called Life”. These sentiments are certainly informed by the fact that they’re co-written with the aforementioned Secor, with whom Tuttle certainly comprises roots music’s newest power couple. Their collaborative chemistry certainly spills over onto this record in gorgeous fashion.
Simply put, So Long Little Miss Sunshine is a sparkling gem, be it bluegrass, pop, folk or otherwise. It affirms that Molly Tuttle’s ability to balance the slick economies of pop song-craft with authentic musicianship is as astute as her exquisite vocal, instrumental, and lyrical talents. Clearly, these rich qualities will remain pillars of her catalog, regardless of stylistic direction, and this album is another impressive leveling-up for one of today’s most gifted artists.
Track Listing:
- “Everything Burns” (Molly Tuttle, Ketch Secor)
- “The Highway Knows” (Tuttle, Secor)
- “Golden State of Mind” (Tuttle, Secor)
- “Rosalee” (Tuttle, Secor, Trannie Anderson, Paul Sikes)
- “I Love It” (Charlotte Atkinson, Linus Eklow, Patrick Berger)
- “That’s Gonna Leave A Mark” (Tuttle, Kevin Griffin)
- “Easy” (Tuttle, Griffin)
- “Summer of Love” (Tuttle, Secor)
- “Old Me (New Wig)” (Tuttle, Secor)
- “Oasis” (Tuttle, Secor)
- “No Regrets” (Tuttle, Secor, Griffin)
- “Story of My So-Called Life” (Tuttle, Secor)
The 706 
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