The Nancys Lay a Mesmerizing Foundation in Debut EP
The Nancys. Photo by Eden Hetzroni.
Emerging indie band The Nancys aren’t afraid to tell you what a student tour guide won’t about college — and I don’t mean songs about partying on weekdays or stereotypical situationships. Composed of University of Florida students Ella Norris (lead vocals), Theo Lorenzen (guitar) and Shane Barrera (drums), the three-piece has become a staple in the Gainesville indie scene, but any college student — or young person, period — can relate to their music. Dropping just in time for graduation season, The Nancys’s self-titled debut EP explores the anxieties of fleeting youth, the complexities of queer love and the burnout that comes with growing up.
The five-track record opens with the ethereal, growing synth intro of “Tell Me To Be,” a single released in March. As the song settles into an uptempo surf rock-ish groove, Norris takes listeners back in time. Recalling high school boyfriends, she sings, “Time flies just say when / Feeling sixteen again,” before mentions of “warm beer” and being “tired of moving fast” sum up the college experience. A switch to a half-time drum beat and a lower-register guitar melody usher in a grungier pre-chorus, with the lyrics, “One at a time / Run out of time,” pretty much characterizing the track perfectly. “I wrote this one about the chaos of growing up while wrestling with identity, faith, love, you name it,” Norris wrote on Instagram. Seeming to have mastered the art of putting complex human feelings into blunt yet honest words, she reflects this notion in the song’s chorus, as she repeatedly begs, “Tell me to be.”
If “Tell Me To Be” is a fast-paced catharsis, “Light, Again” is its more subdued, melancholic younger sibling. Marked by light guitar strumming and a subtle cello line, “Light, Again” feels like The Nancys at their rawest. “Working all week, can’t see the end / The strays on the street see me more than my friends,” Norris sings, relaying a disappointing yet all-too-common symptom of growing up. Lorenzen adds comforting harmonies to the chorus, complementing Norris’s warm lilt beautifully as they croon, “I’m burning out like an old cigarette / Light me again.”
Other tracks like “Sucker” and “Know Me Too” are anthems that explore romantic intricacies and insecurities and highlight Norris’s poetic songwriting abilities. “Sucker” is a track that exudes queer yearning. Backed by ambient production, Norris sings of falling for a girl to the point of obsession, while acknowledging that she’s merely a “sucker between her teeth.” Meanwhile, “Know Me Too” expresses the universal longing to have effort reciprocated in a relationship. Norris describes loving someone “sideways, upside down and on the floor,” yet feeling “ripped at the seam,” as if the absence of someone’s care to know her translates to not knowing herself fully.
Watch the music video for “Know Me Too” on YouTube.
A cinematic music video accompanies “Know Me Too,” providing some answers as to who the elusive “Nancy” is. The video follows the band as they buy old DVDs labeled “NANCY” with different dates from a yard sale and proceed to go on an adventure in search of her. They traverse through the woods, stumble upon an unassuming log cabin and end up confronted with a billboard that reads, “Looking for Nancy? Look within. Nancy is within all of us,” a puzzling yet profound non-answer.
The EP aptly closes with the band’s first-ever single, “Sweet,” a decision perhaps symbolizing that this is just the beginning for The Nancys. A slow build, the first half of the track features a relaxed acoustic line, twangy guitar ornaments and a simple, yet driving drum beat. Come the bridge, however, every instrument besides the acoustic guitar and a subtle synth ambiance-enhancer drops out, stripping the track in preparation for a satisfying sonic build. Eventually, the bass line reenters and a steady bass drum beat ramps up to usher in an electric guitar solo. “Sweet” ends in half-time, the slower pace perhaps reminding listeners that it’s okay to slow down and make the most of youth.
While Nancy is “within all of us,” the emerging trio’s debut EP suggests that the symbolic being may especially dwell in the minds of every 20-something-year-old. With their solid sound, perceptive storytelling and relatable energy, The Nancys have planted a musical seed bound to blossom into success.