REVIEW: A Modern Love Letter to New York’s Iconic Music Scene, Sweetbreads Perfects the Lyrical Narrative on New Single “Open Mic”
WRITTEN BY LOGAN FLEMING
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Brooklyn-based indie-folk band Sweetbread’s new single, “Open Mic,” is an introspective tapestry of artistic influence, seamlessly woven together by front-woman Melody Stolpp, who was inspired by everything from her childhood in California listening to country radio, to her experience coming up in New York City’s legendary music scene.
The lyrics of the new single draw more specifically from an evening waiting to perform at a dive bar open mic, where Stolpp had brought a long-time friend who was struggling with her mental health and addiction.
“It felt like I was watching my friend fall apart. I thought, “Why am I even here, waiting in line for what?” Stolpp said, “My commitment to my music career was an addiction of its own.”
As a veteran of both legendary and locally loved music venues like The Sidewalk Cafe, Bar Frieda, and Alphaville, Stolpp knows her way around a New York open mic.
“I love the spirit of open mic night,” Stolpp said. “And I say this with all the love in my heart, it’s kind of a freakshow.”
Through her hyperspecific, yet universal brand of lyrical storytelling, the new Sweetbreads single extrapolates the personal to examine existential questions young artists have always struggled to answer about their purpose and the legitimacy of their craft.
‘Why is dying easier than being born?’ Stolpp asks in a haunting lilt on the chorus.
“I brought the idea over to my friend Nick Watt who’s been a huge collaborator. His wife Annie had just given birth to their first child, a baby girl,” Stolpp said.
As the two sat on the porch working out the song, Stolpp heard Watt's newborn crying from inside the home.
“He told me her organs are still developing, that's why she was crying, she just gets uncomfortable sometimes,” Stolpp said. “That’s when we came up with that line, that's like the crux of this whole thing; why is life so painful?”
Stolpp found her voice as a songwriter while studying at Boston conservatory’s competitive and prestigious musical theater BFA program, where she completed her degree with an emphasis on songwriting.
“I wrote the teacher who runs the songwriting program this long letter that persuaded him to let me in the course,” Stolpp said. “That’s where I started writing songs, and I just found that in music, I was allowed to be myself more.”
Stolpp has been able to achieve through her lyricism something near impossible: clear and dynamic storytelling without a heavy hand.
“I love a narrative,” Stolpp said. “But I try not to be too expositional.”
When her undeniable lyrical voice and desire for creative control caused her to feel like she’d outgrown the mold for a typical theatre performer, Stolpp began playing her original songs at open mic nights around Brooklyn and New York, where she felt immediately welcomed by the local community, the place where she met many of her current close friends and collaborators.
“Some people say being a part of a music scene can be competitive or something,” Stolpp said. “I’ve never felt like that. I always loved playing with my friends and hearing their songs.”
“Open Mic” is equally wistful and melancholic as it is an ode to its namesake, and the community of artists Stolpp has been embraced and supported by since moving to New York a decade ago.
Her album Punisher of Love comes out September 22 and will be followed by an East Coast tour alongside singer/songwriter Jaqueline Hackett.