That New New: Erica Gibson's Charming Debut Single, "Out of My Mind"

It's been a good week for new music, especially considering how desolate the first few months of the year tend to be. There's a lot worth sifting through at one time, but if you're in the mood for some new new over the weekend, I recommend checking out the charming official solo debut single by Philadelphia songwriter Erica Gibson, "Out of My Mind."

Produced and co-written by frequent collaborator Scott Stallone, "Out of My Mind" is a format-savvy, sonically playful record about overthinking that voicemail from that guy, which I'm sure hasn't happened to anyone ever. There's a neat tonal shift on the pre-chorus I always find "ooh ahh"-y, and a big old chorus that, and don't hate me for this, has actually proven difficult to get out of my mind. Ooh whoa ohhhh, whoa ah ohh ohhhhh!

Erica Gibson first appeared on my radar a few years ago when I stumbled across her Perfect Pop Song "I Don't Want You Back" on Soundcloud and flipped my shit over it; in fact, it was the first and only time I have gathered the contact info of as many bloggers as I could and sent out an enthusiastic email to them recommending they give it a look (only one good-natured blogger responded, which taught me a lot about bloggers).

After I wrote about that song, she and I began communicating online and continue to do so. She has been generous enough to allow me an inside look at her creative process, occasionally sending demo cuts or just fragments of something she's toying around with. It has been interesting to see this particular record, for instance, progress from a verse fragment to full song through one or two pretty big changes in tonal approach. She's also been very patient in tolerating all my unsolicited artistic suggestions (and wisely - but diplomatically! - disregarding them). Hey, it's fun for me to imagine myself as the type of person who can write the sort of hit pop songs I am so good at writing about once they exist; I'm a human beiiiiiiiiiing.

Well, I can't. But Erica Gibson sure can, and even as fresh off the boat as she is I can already tell she's got oodles of potential. So take a few minutes and take a listen and give a little ups to a brand new voice in pop music, not just because this particular voice is quite good but because we should all be doing that in principle as much as possible. Or do you want to only hear Iggy Azalea, Maroon 5, Sam Smith, Katy Perry, and Dr. Luke songs for the rest of time?

Didn't think so.



"Out of My Mind" is available to download for free on Soundcloud for a limited time until it's up on iTunes, but if you dig the music, why not support it with a little cash if you can too?