In her latest single and music video “Stir Crazy,” pop singer/songwriter Stacy Gabel addresses the ongoing pandemic with a pop hook that could serve as medicine to malnourished melody-lovers everywhere this autumn, largely breaking with the trend of gloom and doom that some of her indie peers have been openly embracing lately. Instead of turning to the darkness for a path into the light, Gabel is getting downright decadent with her folky power grooves in this number, and for my money, the performance totals up to a can’t-miss feature of fans of the pop genre everywhere. 

More on Stacey Gabel: http://www.stacygabel.com/%E2%99%AC-stir-crazy-%E2%99%AC/

The music video for “Stir Crazy” is playful and as far away from the isolated, black and white imagery of quarantine-culture alternative pop as one could ask for it to get without devolving into saccharine impurities, which is essential to distinguishing its look as unique in every way in 2020. Gabel is always at the helm of the mic and her guitar with a confident attitude that bleeds through the screen and into the harmonies she puts together all too seamlessly, and best of all, it’s clear from the get-go that her swagger isn’t forced or backed by synthetic elements in the mix at all whatsoever. 

This track has a spunky little rhythm that is debatably as important as the vocal is in understanding the depth of the narrative beyond the cosmetics as they’re introduced by the imagery and the lyrics the same, and to some extent, I think there’s a case to be made that Gabel was being strategic with her release of “Stir Crazy” this past September. Rather than putting us through an entire LP of tunes styled around this specific theme, she’s breaking off a passive pop pleasantry that will segue her career from this present chapter into the future, which is something I’d like to see some of her contemporaries try to do with their own future output as it relates to current events. 

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/stir-crazy-single/1530079191?i=1530079193&ign-gact=3&ls=1

Stacy Gabel gives a great take on the craziness of 2020 in “Stir Crazy” that I don’t see myself forgetting anytime soon, and although it’s been somewhat of a hit or miss year among the independent pop circuit, hers is a sound I’m impressed with enough to come back for more at a later date. It’s a barebones treat that puts melody over muscularity, but given the circumstances, this scheme is what makes it such a refreshing treasure. 

Zachary Rush