Welp, you knew this is what would happen. Our little Tusla songbird Kaitlin Butts flew off and signed to a major label, has been hanging out with the likes of Ella Langley and Dasha, and having a grand ol’ time launching dance crazes on TikTok. It was only a matter of time before she was in a room with a bunch of Nashville songwriters slopping out some pop country radio hit that would assuredly launch her into the stratosphere, but leave all her grassroots traditional country fans behind.
Well who knows. That still might be in the offing. But Kaitlin’s first original single after signing to Republic Records is absolutely everything you want from a Kaitlin Butts song. If anything, it utterly defines who she has been throughout her career, and what her signature sound and style is, just now with some more heft behind it.
“Never Really Mine” is a pure, traditional country song with steel guitar, a waltz beat built from brushes on snare, and super country writing from Kaitlin Butts at her “double cross me and die” best. Yes, she did solicit some co-writers for the song, but in the form of fellow acclaimed kiss-off country composers Maggie Antone and Lola Kirke. They help complete a track that feels like it leans into its human connection as opposed to bleeding it out like what happens in so many “songwriting by committee” singles.
But despite all the praise an old fuddy duddy country fan might have for “Never Really Mine,” you can also hear how the lyricism, and maybe even the sound is something that would resonate wide with country audiences in the post “Choosin’ Texas” environment. Unlike some other performers who are zagging when they should be zigging, Kaitlin knows this moment in country is country, and serves the people up the kind of country they want.
Everything else aside, “Never Really Mine” is such an excellent showcase for Kaitlin’s voice, especially her strong top range, which she exploits so expertly in the song, and not in a way that feels strained, forced, or performative. It’s where the writing and the song takes her. Kaitlin says the song was inspired when someone catcalled her husband Cleto Cordero at a festival in Austin. She said, “A man that can be taken from me was never really mine,” and the idea was born.
Kaitlin Butts was featured recently on a murder ballad from Willow Avalon called “Hypothetically Speaking” that showcased a lot of talk singing, a offensively-buried steel guitar, and perhaps too much kitsch for its own good. The idea was great, but the execution just wasn’t there.
“Never Really Mine” gets right what so many country songs get wrong. Butts will have plenty of opportunity to show off other aspects of her artistry in what will likely be a new album later this year, or perhaps the beginning of the next. But for now, Kaitlin Butts remains right where she belongs, speaking from a strong female perspective, and backed by a super country sound.
8.5/10
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