Oct 20, 2021

Robyn Ottolini ‘The But I’m Not Always Sad Either’ EP Review

Warner Music Nashville singer-songwriter Robyn Ottolini’s youthful energy and quirky songwriting burst onto the country music scene during the pandemic in 2020 with the viral TikTok hit, “F-150.” Raised in Uxbridge, Ontario in Canada, Ottolini has been journaling her raw angst through music writing since she was only 13 years old. Ottolini has put her own captivating and fearless twist to the genre that her musical heroes, Kacey Musgraves and Maren Morris trail blazed. Her upcoming The But I’m Not Sad Either EP drops today, June 25 with four songs, including the third track “Sincerely, Drunk Me” that you may already know and love from her TikTok.

The first track “Tell you Everything” is a mature sound for Ottolini with insightful lyrics explaining what it means to have found someone she’s comfortable with enough to tell her whole truth to. Ottolini has a gift for musical timing and strong lyrics that work together to illustrate the intensity and complexity of emotions. This track is beautifully raw and points to a softer side of Ottolini who might have trouble letting down her walls, but when she does, she finds it very liberating.

“Usually I keep all my thoughts to myself, but you’re the first one I want to tell. All the drama with my mama, things I can’t tell my friends, when I tell you, you don’t look at me different. And I want to tell you everything, every little detail…”

The second track is a high-energy, fast-paced blast titled “Hold me Back.” Ottolini cleverly uses the title line with masterful comedic timing to describe needing to be held back when she’s righteously angry but also to depict that her friends are being “held back” by the wrong guys.

This song takes a huge musical and lyrical left turn from the first track with in-your-face, confrontational lyrics, and an unconventional punk-rock edge that keeps up with Ottolini’s bold singing that includes laughter, threats, and self-loving affirmations. Ultimately, Ottolini is declaring that she doesn’t hold back, especially when it comes to defending her friends.

“I don’t hold back when I’m drinking, I don’t hold back what I’m thinking.”

The fourth and final song of the EP, “Daddy’s Daughter,” takes an even wider turn from what we know from Ottolini. As much as we love the unique and artistic musical distractions and flares of Ottolini’s songs, it is a refreshing change of pace to have her gorgeous vocal range on display throughout this tender track.

Ottolini trusts the listener with a raw vulnerability when confessing, through delightful lyrical rhyming, to a feeling of insecurity that we can all relate to of not being good enough. She then reminds herself, and us, that the only concern for success should be making the ones who are most important to us proud.

“When I don’t think I can change the world when I compare myself to other girls. When I find out I can’t walk on water, and the world doesn’t want what I offer […] He’s the reason that I love country music and the first to hear all my songs. When I think that I’m lost in this crazy world, he reminds me of where I belong.”

Whether her independent, original sound is your taste or not, Ottolini’s talent as both a singer and songwriter is more undeniable than ever on this EP that shows off her versatility. With this kind of multifaceted talent, it will be a delight to watch and listen to Ottolini’s evolution as a country music artist who is here to stay.

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