Aubrey Haddard Embraces Classic Pop with “Thin Line” (premiere)

Raised in New York’s Hudson Valley, Aubrey Haddard‘s world was rocked at the age of 15 when she first heard the music of Susan Tedeschi. Moving to Boston to attend the Berklee College of Music, she immersed herself in songwriting and performing and eventually released the album Blue Part in 2018. The album received a bevy of local accolades, and she even took home a few trophies in that year’s Boston Music Awards.

Haddard has since moved from the Boston area and has been a national and international support act and festival performer. Her new single, “Thin Line”, premiering here, contains some of the blues and soul-inspired sounds of her previous work, but more than anything, it incorporates a healthy sheen of catchy, vaguely psychedelic power-pop. The slinky beat, effects-tinged guitar riffs, rubbery bassline, and Haddard‘s sweet vocal harmonies all evoke a new wave/pop sound that wouldn’t sound out of place on an early ’80s Pretenders album – perhaps if Nile Rodgers were in the producer’s chair. The single has that kind of a unique blend of catchiness, edge, and funk.

The video also is a bit of a nod to the past. Haddard sings into an old-school rotary dial phone while dressed – as is her band – in a pristine white top and blue jeans, giving off a quirky, retro-Mod style. “We wanted to keep the video simple and bizarre like the message of the song,” said Haddard. “The song kind of touches on the factors in my life that tend to push me over that line between sanity and chaos, but it’s mostly about feeling. A little uneasy and a lot of fun.”

Haddard’s Twitter bio describes her as “a songster of the modern age, wielding a Fender Jazzmaster”. The description is an apt one, as Haddard excels at mining the past while fearlessly moving forward.