She has yet to ink a major label recording contract, but Detroit native Danielle Car is already making a name for herself and her rocked-up brand of Motown country music. With her previous release "Walk of Shame," she became the only unsigned artist on the monthly Promo Only release, and with her current single "Pretty Please," she's done it again on the Promo Only country radio compilation for the month of June.
"Pretty Please" features a tell-it-like-it-is lyric about a woman upholding her self-worth when receiving romantic gestures from a man hiding "a suntan line where a little ol' ring should be." It explores a similar theme to Sugarland's 2008 neo-classic "Stay," but in place of the raw emotion of that Sugarland hit, "Pretty Please" displays a confident swagger and a whole lot of attitude as the lyrical narrator firmly declares that she has no intention of being pulled into a love triangle. With standout lines like "All this double-dippin' will leave you cryin' in your apple pie," Danielle has written one heck of a good song.
The sentiment is underscored by an upbeat melody and an energetic country-rock arrangement with some catchy guitar licks. During the chorus, the heavy drumbeat threatens to be a distraction from Danielle's performance, but it's to her credit as a vocalist that she is not drowned out. As much fun as the song is, it could be benefited by toning down the layers of production and background vocals, thus effectively allowing Danielle's strong and sassy lead vocal to be the primary focus of attention.
But there's still a lot to love here, as "Pretty Please" displays a level of personality that blows many current radio favorites out of the water, while echoing an underlying message of self-confidence amid all that fist-pumping fun. More songs like this on country radio... "pretty please."
DANIELLE'S SCORE: 7
(Scores are given on a scale of 1 to 10)
HEAR IT on Danielle's MySpace