Nashville-based Abby Nissenbaum’s latest track comes off the top of her 2023 EP Unreliable Narrator. “Shelly Johnson” highlights her hauntingly heartfelt lyrics which shine through on this song, centered around a relationship gone bad;
“I can tell you’ve been with her/at some bar taking photographs/but she sobered up to drive you home while I’m dry heaving on the dirt path.”
I definitely teared up listening to the story unfold that many of us are too familiar with and felt a kinship with Abby based on this song alone; not to mention the rest of the EP. Beyond her storytelling prowess, “Shelly” is a crispy, indie-pop gem bolstered by a guitar-driven backbone.
Absolutely worth a listen if you enjoy heady lyrics with lyrics to peel back and ruminate over. Feel free to start off with some of her earlier releases such as “Generic Indie Song” and “Funeral Processional” and work your way up to her latest.