LOSING HER, SINGLE  – REVIEW

by John Gaddis

Brandon Calano is a Nashville-based singer-songwriter that writes and performs under the pseudonym Becoming Young. The name represents the journey to let go of everything we are not, so we can become who we were meant to be all along. The Colorado native moved to Nashville in the summer of 2019 to pursue music.  He has since been hailed by Forbes as an artist “brimming with intrigue, angst, and heartbreak,” who is “making waves” in the industry.  As for his music, Becoming Young fuses pop, folk, and narrative singer-songwriter genres with authenticity and swagger. His lyrics are refreshingly restless, and its narratives capture wonderfully blurred snapshots of self-realization and love. While touring through Seattle in 2019, Calano met with producer Ryan Hadlock (The Lumineers, Vance Joy), and the pair quickly began working on several cuts from Becoming Young’s winter 2020/21 record, The Songs I Wrote You. This haunting collection has already captivated sold-out, live audiences across the country, and Becoming Young fans are eagerly awaiting the record, which Brandon describes as his most honest offering yet. His latest single is titled “Losing Her.”

“Losing Her” has an active acoustic guitar intro which sets the mood for Becoming Young’s lower register sonorities to float over. His singing style is delivered in a speak-singing manner, but the lyrics are easy to hear and understand. The chorus smooths out in the vocals as Becoming Young moves up in his register. The backing sounds also take on an electro-pop production and feel for the hook, making the chorus and verses have a definite color change. Becoming Young wavers at times with his pitch control, but overall, his sound pushes the boundaries with his cross-pollination of sounds.

Becoming Young has a new approach to the singer-songwriter sound. Although more of a songwriter than a vocalist, his songs are well-written and conceived.