Victoria Bigelow consolidates the unspoken whispers of the heart on her latest EP. Fans of the existential, intricate balladry of Weyes Blood or the heart-on-her-sleeve lyricism of Angel Olsen, will find her burgeoning catalog just as enthralling. After performing at Zebulon this past Sunday, she has a Los Angeles date at The Hotel Cafe on July 18th.
Bigelow picked up her first instrument at 12 years old, shouldering a $10 guitar her mom purchased for her as a birthday gift, and by the very next day, had already penned a song. The anecdote speaks to the ease and warmth with which the singer-songwriter mines her pain, anxiety, and tenuous hope.
Her debut EP, Going Blue—five tracks of swooning, dusty, and riveting Americana—revealed a gift for translating personal experience with poetic candor, imbuing intimately subjective moments with the dually gutting and exhilarating weight they deserve.
Originally from Georgia but now based in Arizona, the first of Bigelow’s two most recent EPs draws on the spacious immensity evoked by the landscape of the Southwest. Spacious and sparse, the songs on Songs For No One Vol. 1 billow with withering honesty. Against the twanging glow of its sweeping opening track, “Oblivion,” she chronicles the reeling of a crushing heartbreak, tracing with warmth the scars that mar youthful innocence.
The sequel to that collection, Songs For No One Vol. 2, opens with Bigelow ascending a soaring swell of acoustics, invoking Sylvia Plath as she grapples with motherhood overshadowed by the still lingering presence of her inner child. On “The Kids,” she pens a sprawling generational anthem to the tune of airy woodwinds and warbling riffs but turns back inward on “Going Blue” and “Forever Now and Then.” The music video for that latter track, directed by Joey Puterbaugh, brings to the forefront the bare-bones poignancy of her meditations on motherhood.
Words: Steven Ward
You can see Victoria Bigelow in Los Angeles at The Hotel Cafe on July 18th.
Visit Victoria Bigelow on her Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.
ARTISTS YOU SHOULD KNOW
BEST NEW MUSIC
Victoria Bigelow Tour
June 23 – Los Angeles, CA – Zebulon
Jul 11 – Tucson, AZ – Club Congress
July 18 – Los Angeles, CA – Hotel Cafe
This post may contain affiliate links. Ads and affiliate links are how independent blogs like Grimy Goods can operate. Thank you for supporting our work and being a part of our music community.
