About This Item
When beginning work on the second girlpuppy album, Sweetness, Becca Harvey realized the record-making process itself would be almost as important as the final product. On her first album of alt-pop anthems-2022's gorgeous, folk-infused When I'm Alone-the 25-year-old Atlanta-based singer-songwriter often felt like she was working in the shadow of her collaborators, writing words to their melodies and deferring to their creative impulses. Made on the other side of a relationship where she often felt marginalized, Sweetness felt like the right project for Harvey to rethink her creative approach and work solely from her own lyrical and melodic ideas. The result of this process was a darker, more texturally expansive record than it's predecessor, full of heart-rending songs about pushing back against self-blame and doubt. From it's heavy-duty sonics to it's naturally flowing melodies to it's emotionally generous lyrics, every element of Sweetness exudes confidence, capturing Harvey relishing raw creativity and trusting her inclinations. The record takes place within that moment all artists wait for when their InchvoiceInch becomes so clear, they realize they can just open their mouth and start speaking in it. Freed from the nagging insecurity that she couldn't be a songwriter without playing an instrument-she cites The National's Matt Berninger as an inspiration-Harvey began Sweetness by recording full-length acapella voice memos. To find a backdrop for the vocals, Harvey delved into her diverse, lifelong set of musical reference points, from the country and Top 40 pop she grew up on in small-town Georgia to the later favorites that expanded her idea of what songwriting could achieve Elliott Smith, Lana Del Rey, Yo La Tengo, and more. With the help of Asheville-based producer/co-writer Alex Farrar and additional co-writers Tom Sinclair and Holden Fincher, Harvey pinpoint
