In her new single “Too Much & Not Enough” Hannah Ellis has a style that some might be quick to describe as similar to the retro Nashville pop sound a lot of singer/songwriters tried to salvage as their own in the late 2010s, but from my perspective, the track and its companion video are far superior to any of those efforts. Lending itself over to the surrealism of indie pop while also bearing certain aesthetical traits indebted to an old-fashioned country balladry you don’t hear a lot of on the radio anymore, “Too Much & Not Enough” is a touch of the past as filtered through a postmodern lens, and it’s got my full attention beyond debate this November.
The music video for “Too Much & Not Enough” separates the melodic expressiveness of the instrumentation from the lyrical literacy, darkening the narrative with through bare-bones imagery like a hot knife through butter – and then lifting us back up with a powerful and ascending chorus as the song builds to its conclusion. It’s a lot more complex than I had suspected it would be, having listened to the track on its own beforehand, but it’s a fascinating and multilayered addition to its source material just the same.
The smoky pipes of our leading lady aside, there’s a lot of charisma to the harmonies that Ellis builds from the ground up in this single undisputedly as responsible for the “chills” factor as any of the lyrics she sings are. There’s something natural about the fluidity of both her verses and the beats that back them up in this piece, and as limited as the percussive element is, there’s never a moment in which the rhythm doesn’t feel present and persistently draws us closer.
Ellis’s style of lyricism here is cutting and personal, but I definitely wouldn’t say it’s self-indulgent in any respect. It’s possible to get intimate with the narrative you’re presenting to an audience or even a specific listener without getting so wrapped up in poeticisms that you start to translate it as insular, and to some extent, her performance in “Too Much & Not Enough” goes a long way towards supporting this statement. She’s able to open up to us while staying focused on a relatable, open-ended vibe, and that’s not always the case with her contemporaries in Nashville.
A singer/songwriter with immense spunk and creative abilities that are growing with each new release and blossoming into a stellar career path, Hannah Ellis has won my heart with this latest single/video combo, and if given the opportunity, I think she’ll do the same for scores of listeners and critics around the country. “Too Much & Not Enough” isn’t reinventing the wheel compositionally, but from a tonal point of view, it’s one of the smoother numbers I’ve heard from an independent, country-influenced player in this capacity all year long. Ellis is one to watch, and if you didn’t believe that before, you’ll know how true it is after hearing “Too Much & Not Enough.”
Jodi Marxbury