Roots-rooted rhythm and fervent fire burn through 2 or 3 Rhymes, the emotionally charged country release from Ennis Hawkins. The 23-year-old singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist, raised in Southern Anne Arundel County, Maryland and now based in Tampa, brings piano-deep musicianship, recent Nashville seasoning and a wide musical education into a song that keeps its sincerity right at the surface.
2 or 3 Rhymes modernises country for the contemporary malaise of navigating a world that only seems to increase in complexity. For anyone who has found romance to be practically a Kafka-esque affair and seeks solace in country, Hawkins brings the volition necessary for catharsis, letting the wounded allegory of desire unfold without varnishing over the emotional scrape.
The production stays vintage-toned and melodically honed, while the vocals remain front and centre, carrying the realism of the song’s wound-aware candour until the deliciously raw guitar solo delivers the most visceral outpour of emotion.
Hawkins’ background, from early piano to guitar, saxophone and collegiate athletic discipline, helps explain the track’s sturdy musical spine, but the real pull comes from how naturally Hawkins lets country, blues-warmed soul and bluegrass-rooted feeling speak through one voice.
If Tyler Childers’ plainspoken sorrow and Chris Stapleton’s bruised melodies speak to your soul, expect 2 or 3 Rhymes with its heartland honesty with old-soul bite to resonate right through it.
2 or 3 Rhymes is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify.
Review by Amelia Vandergast