Renee Palermo’s Nobody Told Me Carries Country Pop Back to Its Heart-Led Roots –

With country pop’s resurgence, it is easy to get accustomed to and complacent with songs that plasticise Americana’s roots, but every now and again, artists like Renee Palermo come around like a breath of authentic air. The independent singer-songwriter knows exactly how to command the timbres and melodies without losing the soul of the sound, and Nobody Told Me, from her EP, What It Was, proves how powerful a return can sound when it is rooted in experience.

After more than a decade away from releasing music, Palermo has returned with a renewed sense of purpose and depth. Nobody Told Me winds rhythms down old country soul roads to render a country-pop ballad swathed with heart-wrenchingly earned wisdom. The writing explores love, loss, resilience and the strange beauty life hands you after the lesson has already left its mark.

“The doctors had a way of making me feel alone” is one of the most sobering lyrics I have heard all year. The uplift arrives through Palermo’s lyrical epiphany of salvation through learning to lean into the best parts of herself, allowing pain to become clarity rather than performance.

Nobody Told Me understands that some truths can only be lived into, and Palermo sings them with the steady emotional authority of someone who has paid the emotional toll for every word. THIS is why we need to stop prizing youth in pop.

Nobody Told Me is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast