Dianña is set for great things in modern country music. Unlike a bevy of performers who devoted listeners can cite as tackling country music because they see it as an avenue to stardom, Dianña has a real love for the form. You can hear it in her vocals, and it certainly comes through in her latest single “Hands”.
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“Hands” sounds and feels like the next logical step for this talented singer/songwriter. An assortment of her earlier singles has either been novelty tracks or else reliant on a great deal of humor, but it’s risky despite the popularity of such songs. You can end up characterized, fairly or unfairly, as an audience-pleaser instead of a serious songwriter. Dianña is likely aware of this, but she’s also the sort of artist who will follow her Muse wherever it leads her.
It has led her, in this case, to a song full of life’s flesh and blood realities. Her portrayal of a hardworking man and the story told by his hands could end up sounding like romanticized drivel, but Dianña is far too talented to allow that. Her writing keeps things focused on deeply affecting listeners without any cheap generalities cribbed from a thousand other songs; the inspiration for the track comes from real life and she doesn’t lose any of that translating the experience into song.
The music contains that same down-to-earth vibe. Guitar fans will find a lot to love in the song’s instrumental break and appreciate the way it doesn’t overreach. Every note is considered. Melody is abundant in this song, the arrangement, the vocal melody, but it’s mature and developed rather than leaning on one hook. Dianña and the song undoubtedly gain a great deal from working with a first-class cadre of collaborators who display the same dedication to lean and tasteful work that she has.
There is a specific sense some will get listening to this song and that it’s a potentially big moment for the songwriter. Dianña is turning an artistic corner from the skilled yet perhaps merely entertaining performer who served up such delightful and popular novelty tracks such as “Calm Down Karen” into a recording artist and writer capable of reaching the widest possible audience. It doesn’t mean she disavows that past. She will undoubtedly write and record similar material again. This track, however, shows she is here to stay.
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She sees overarching metaphors where other songwriters do not. Lesser talents could have tackled this track with an assorted of predictable one liners collected into a serviceable lyric but “Hands” doesn’t settle. It’s a mark of a higher purpose underlying Dianña’s talent that will undoubtedly expand her audience and it’s impossible to believe she’s done growing. In fact, this may mark the beginning of her greatest period yet. She’s not breaking new ground with this single, she’s not experimenting, but she gives you heartfelt fundamentals in a way few other country music performers can match. It is a single well worth seeking out today.
Trace Whittaker
