Ian Davies’ latest single “Stubborn” brings together 90’s indie irreverence and mid-’70s country-era easy listening to create a playfully uncomplicated romp that lives up to Country’s “three chords and the truth” motto. The lyrics are straightforward yet poetic and are punctuated with tight, organic harmonies and an effective minimalist approach to instrumentation. “Stubborn” is off his fifth album, arriving in December 2022.
“The first mumbly voice memo of “Stubborn” was conceived largely by accident while trying to figure out Steve Young’s “Seven Bridges Road” from memory. It was probably the first time I had knowingly used the mixolydian mode in one of my own songs, which sounds very fancy but it’s actually just three major chords the whole time. It didn’t occur to me initially, but the lyrics ended up reflecting that, in the sense that there’s a lot of power in context and how we choose to frame things, whether it’s a memory or a relationship or the tonic note of a scale,” says Davies.
