Pillbox Patti ‘Florida’ – Debut Album Review

Pillbox Patti’s debut album, Florida is out now, October 14th on all streaming platforms. Take a listen and read our full review below.

With a smoky and seductive voice that holds the impending story of a life well-lived, Monument recording artist, Pillbox Patti is ready to make her name known.

Patti is the stage persona of acclaimed Nashville songwriter Nicolette Hayford, who has written songs for Ashley McBryde, Lainey Wilson, William Michael Morgan, and more. In fact, she’s the woman behind McBryde’s breakout track “Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega” and “One Night Standards,” a musical style and prowess that weaves its way through her debut album, Florida, out now.

“Florida is a collection of my truths,” says Pillbox Patti in a statement. “It’s who I am and where I come from. It helped me heal. it helped me celebrate how far I’ve come, and I hope it brings some light to anybody out there in the dark corners of a small town or anybody anywhere that needs to hear ‘I’ve been there too.’”

Throughout Florida, Patti takes listeners on an eight-track journey through her world, but in a way, that’s endlessly relatable. Her voice is that of a seasoned storyteller, while her lyrics are the perfect mix of clever and catchy, full of intrigue, innuendo, and an immersive listening experience.

From the opening notes of “Good People,” listeners will feel like they’re being drawn into a mysterious and smoky room as Patti introduces them to a cast of good people with bad habits. At the core they may be good, but here in Patti’s world, there’s no judgment as she accepts everyone along with their vices. “Even Jesus had his reasons for turning water into wine,” She drawls. “So smoke it, pop it, drink it, drop it, honey we don’t mind.”

Likewise, “Suwannee” and “Young and Stupid” are both odes to growing up in simpler times. The former is a gritty, swampy introduction to her hometown along Florida’s Suwannee River, while the latter is a nostalgic ode to easier days, as Patti muses “I guess you don’t know what you got // Til ya been gone a while // And I been gone a while.”

“Eat, Pray, Drugs” puts a clever country spin on the old adage of eat, pray, love, as she continues to tell the tale of growing up in a small town. “I’m from a small town in Florida where there’s not a whole lot goin’ on,” says Pillbox Patti. “Mostly casseroles, and Jesus, and getting’ high.…in other words, eat pray drugs. If I would’ve had the extra money to spend on decorative signs or kitchen towels when I lived in the little town I’m from, they would’ve all said eat pray drugs.”

“Only three things to do around here // Ain’t a honey hole or a movie theater // Country is as country does // Eat, pray, drugs // Hose clamp and a 80 mg // Baptist church and a Dairy Queen // We just doin’ what we love // Eat, pray, drugs.”

“Hooking Up” finds her channeling her inner Gwen Stefani on the infectiously catchy, hands-in-the-air anthem, while “Candy Cigarettes” has her realizing the way she grew up may have affected her life today.

Vulnerability is on full display on Florida, most noticeably on the album’s final song, “25 MPH Town,” a sparse, piano-driven ballad that tells of her unstable upbringing. Likewise, “Valentine’s Day” is a heart-wrenching tale of Patti’s own February fourteenth experience with abortion at the age of fifteen. “I needed to write that song and it took, obviously, a very long time for me to get there, but that is the truth I needed to tell because it allowed me to love myself,” Patti reveals to Yahoo Entertainment. “A lot of these songs did. That one was a really big one where I’m really glad I shared that and I’m really glad I have all these people here with me and I can feel the love.”

With honesty and vulnerability rarely found in country music, Pillbox Patti’s Florida is one of the genre’s most daring releases of late. With an uncanny mix of vulnerability, honesty, and levity, the singer-songwriter manages to tell of a rocky upbringing without ever making listeners feel bad for her. Instead, we root for her, both for these eight tracks and for whatever is yet to come.