Artists of 2017: Very Fresh IS Exactly Her Name

Like Sadie Dupuis (Sad13), Very Fresh is all about paying homage to the past and bringing it to the future. Her Hey It’s Me EP was an alternative rock treasure trove filled with the combative forces that drove the genre’s 90’s era. Amongst driving drums and guitar anthems, Very Fresh sings about the glories and disappointments of life as a musician.

I always love and appreciate an artist’s candor, and Very Fresh keeps it real.  Hey It’s Me, in essence, is like its title; a further introduction of an artist attempting to be seen and heard more for the voice she has to share, which is not easy when you are surrounded by “Cool Kids” or a ” Kamikaze”. For Me, what makes Very Fresh interesting as an artist is that she shows the duality between looking and being good, which explains why the life of a musician is not always what its “cracked” up to be. The music industry is all about glamor, where even songs about “Rehab” or “I Can’t Feel My Face” become pop hits the dance floor. Although both are incredible songs, they are also tragic in lyricism. Very Fresh uses pulsing chords to make sure you feel the tragedies and struggles of a human being that feels like the only one being human. 

Very Fresh sings with the drawls and lulls that were distinctive to 90’s indie rock. Back then, rock had grown from raging at society to becoming bored with its ways. Hence, singers used lax vocals to show their lyrical exhaustion with the norms and masks that confined both them and everyone around them. Very Fresh, or rather Cindy Lou Gooden, has a voice that draws out her emotions and situations like a sketch artist. You can hear how captured she feels at living for music, while not always making the best living. The result is a record and songstress that makes you feel as if you have hopped into her car for a “California Low” or to pass by the “Hat Tree”. There you and Very Fresh continue to pass by and wonder how everybody manages to seem okay with not being okay. Thus, I choose Very Fresh for my artists of 2017.