Ainsley Costello
Ainsley Costello is on a mission. This 18-year-old senior in college (yes, that’s not a typo) released a full length LP at age 15, another 11 songs in 2021 and this one, “Cherry on Top,” is her fifth this year, and 25th overall. She’s no stranger to the stage in Nashville and the East Coast, and has racked up some impressive endorsements and relationships. You might think that she’s on a mission to conquer the world, but the reality is more interesting. “I’m interested in writing songs that I wanted to hear when I was younger.” The topic she covers in this track (being the bigger person when you’ve been wronged) is certainly a relatable one, and an empowering topic for female writings. She crushes it with this song, here’s our review.
Track starts with a tape machine sound effect, and a massive snare fill. Then the guitars jump in and you’re jolted from your chair trying to find your volume slider. We’re in G major, around 150 bpm, and off to a rocking start. Right off the bat we love the tones and wonder where this is going to go. Especially love the bass tone - not sure what trick Producer and Bassist Christian Harger pulled out of his hat for this but the downstroke feel and attack creates a killer tone - big, buzzy, bold and beautiful. The first big surprise comes when the band drops out, leaving Ainsley and her ukulele singing the first verse. In a clear falsetto she states her case about her mental abilities and the challenge created by whoever wronged her. As the story progresses, the tones creep back in to help thicken the plot - and then drop out again leaving just Ainsley and crunchy guitar line to set up the premise and chorus. It’s a massive first verse that covers a lot of ground (lyrically and sonically) but never gets too busy.
When the chorus drops in we quickly come to realize what the issue is. The culprit “put the cherry on top of the mess you made, but I’ll leave it out to rot.” Ouch. ;) Revenge is often best served by keeping the calmer head and just walking away. Musically, the chorus picks up the same steam as the intro and it’s a great set up. Absolutely love the chord progression (I, III, vi, IV) and the pull of that second chord - that’s such a nice change from the typical Pop and Country progressions. Also really dig the half-time feel on the back half of the chorus. Nice touch, great composition skills there.
Second verse starts the same way as the first, but when the band comes back in the feel changes just ever so much with some smart accents and fills that are matched perfectly with the drummer and bassist. Lyrically, Costello pulls a Sting move here and references once of her earlier tracks (….”and though I’m 5’2” I’m still the bigger person.”), very clever. Second chorus matches the intensity of the intro and first chorus and I love the ukulele part that is brilliantly mixed in with all the heaviness, as well as the smart-ass piano chords in my right speaker. With the bridge, the groove slips back to the half-time feel that has us head bobbing along. She wishes the culprit well, or does she? We can’t tell and neither will she - this is turning out to be the perfect revenge song - and when the final chorus comes in we are treated to a brilliant but all too brief reggae feel before the full band comes back in to bring it home.
This is an exceptional track that covers a lot of ground. The ukulele with the distorted guitars is great match. The bass lines and fills are so tasty and thought out that you don’t realize the majority of the track is built around four chords (not including the use the minor four in some spots). The three major drum feels are perfectly executed by Pete Wilson. Of course, the depth of the track comes from the electric guitar parts performed by Jason Brooks. Despite their heaviness, Harger does an exceptional job of Engineering and Producing this track so that they never get in the way. It also helps to have a voice like Ainsley’s that sits so perfectly on top of the mix. Putting it all together and having it Master by Hallie Melton easily makes this one of our favorites of 2022.
Make sure you scoll down and check out her socials and other works. Her first project (You Know I Am) was primarily a pop-country LP, but she’s finding more solid ground with her work this year that more pop and punk, or, “Pretty Punk” as she likes to call it. She’s on to something, you don’t get to work with some of the best session players and engineers in Nashville if you can’t define your sound. We look forward to seeing how far this track will take her!