Tenille Arts: ‘Girl to Girl’ – Album Review

On Girl to Girl, Canadian singer-songwriter Tenille Arts co-wrote thirteen new tracks that tell tales of heartbreak, growing up, and more, including a duet with Matt Stell. Listen to the new music and read our full review below.

When it comes to country music, Canadian singer-songwriter, Tenille Arts is the ‘every girl’ the genre needs. On her album, Girl to Girl, out today, October 22, Arts deftly embraces the relatability and country hooks that have made superstars out of the likes of Taylor Swift and Kelsea Ballerini. 

While many other artists have tried to fabricate the role of lyrical doe-eyed innocence, it’s the authentic songwriting on Girl to Girl that puts Arts in a league others rarely play in. Arts co-wrote each of the album’s thirteen tracks and its evident on the delivery of each.

There’s genuine ache present on “High School Sweetheart,” which takes cues from Swift’s “Fifteen” and Brad Paisley’s “Letter to Me.” Meanwhile, “That’s My Friend You’re Talking About” deals with subjects of body-image and self-confidence that any female can relate to, while “One Bedroom Apartment” is about that first apartment that’s nothing special, but everything to its first-time occupant.

On “Breaking Up with Break Up Songs,” she’s finally found a good guy, and is ready to give up break up songs for love songs. “The sound of a steel guitar // Don’t break my heart // Like it used to,” She admits, wistfully. “I guess I’m finally moving on.”

While all of the aforementioned tracks are clear standouts on the album, other high points include the LP’s title track, as well as “Sweet Sixteen,” and her duet with Matt Stell on “Over You is You.” On “Girl to Girl,” Arts is warning a girl about the guy she’s dating. And how does Arts know this guy’s tricks? She’s been there, much in the way Carly Pearce warns the “Next Girl” in her own song.

“Girl to girl // He ain’t worth your time // Girl to girl // He wasted lots of mine // Bet he used the same damn lines // Over tequila and lime,” She warns. “From stealing your heart // To wrecking your world // That boy only knows // How to go // Girl to girl”

Arts enlists Stell to join her on the breakup-but-not-quite-over-you song, “Over You is You.” Here, we find the pair trading verses about trying to move on from a failed relationship, but not quite succeeding. On the mid-tempo builder, the pair sound seamless together, admitting “No matter what I do // Over you is you // Coming over, coming over // Over you is all over you // So come over // We’re not over // Over you is all over you.”

On the stripped down album closer, “Growing Old Young,” the singer-songwriter deals with life in a broken family, and how it forces one to grow up way before their time. “A ten year old should be playing house // Not holding one together,” she sings on the heartbreaking ballad of losing one’s innocence. “You never kissed a boy // But your heart’s in two // Never had a drink // But you know what it can do // Never got to see the world // Before yours came undone // That’s growing old young.” Near the end of the track, Arts takes a breath, regaining her composure, and thus breaking the listener’s heart. “Growing old ain’t a choice // but sometimes growing up ain’t either.”

In a music world full of curated images and fabricated lyrics, there’s no denying that Tenille Arts is the real deal. On each of Girl to Girl’s thirteen tracks, the singer-songwriter is both ebullient and downtrodden, introspective and observant, reflective yet hopeful. She’s relatable on each track, her lyrics telling tales that will both break the heart and have you singing into your hairbrush. 

Girl to girl, this album is one that every girl needs in her life.

Girl to Girl Track List:

1. Back Then, Right Now
2. That’s My Friend You’re Talkin’ About
3. One Bedroom Apartment
4. Breaking Songs (ft. Callista Clark)
5. Life Goes Like That
6. Girl to Girl
7. Heartbreak Regulars
8. Mama’s Boy
9. Over You is You (ft. Matt Stell)
10. Give It To Me Straight
11. High School Sweetheart
12. Sweet Sixteen
13. Growing Old Young

OUR PICKS:

1. “Girl to Girl”
2. “Over You Is You” (with Matt Stell)
3. “That’s My Friend You’re Talking About”
4. “One Bedroom Apartment”

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