Premiere | Lily DeTaeye – Downgrade

Lily DeTaeye veers from the strummy folk-pop of her 2014 debut to showcase some serious growth on her latest EP. Fittingly called The E.P., the 19-year-old singer-songwriter tackles themes of heartbreak and awareness that showcase not only her own evolution in character, but a confidence in herself that allows her to exhibit these deeper motifs in powerful ways.

She’s following in a considerable line of other precocious artists who, frustratingly enough, aren’t taken anywhere nearly as seriously by some as they should be purely based off of their age. Yet, for anyone with an iota of sensibility about them, she lays their doubts to rest on “Downgrade”, one of the tracks from off of her forthcoming E.P. 

DeTaeye lays her heart out for all to see on the track, candidly dealing with her heartache in a way that feels visceral and utterly relatable. She navigates the tune with a particular poise that could only have been developed by personal experience, and while it’s a heck of a catchy listen, it’s in the heartfelt nature of the tune that those soulful, honey-smooth vocals of hers at the center of the foot-tapping arrangement really grab us.

She may have evolved well past those folkier tendencies of hers into the next Sara Bareilles, but we here at FFS are still rooting for DeTaeye and are incredibly proud of her successes thus far. The indie-pop songstress will most certainly go far, and we’re lucky to be listening to her now, in the steps leading up to her making the big time.

Words by: Jonathan Frahm (@jfrahm_)