REVIEW OF "DON'T SAY THAT" BY RICKY MONTGOMERY

Ricky Montgomery (he/they) is back to making music and he is bringing a new sound with him.

They had almost quit making music in 2018 when neither his solo project or band, The Honeysticks, seemed to gain any traction. When the Covid-19 pandemic forced the world into quarantine, it brought forth a new era for the digital spread of music. Due to this, Ricky’s songs “Mr Loverman” and “Line Without a Hook” went viral on the app TikTok. These songs were off their 2016 album Montgomery Ricky, and brought Ricky back to the world of music which he loves dearly.

Since those two songs went viral, Ricky has gone on three headlining tours and released the EP It’s 2016 Somewhere in April of 2022, which featured three new full length songs as well as two acoustic versions of pre-existing songs. He now claims to be in a new era of songwriting and is excited to share these new songs with the world.

“Don’t Say That” was released around a month and a half after the single “Eraser” which was released in early April and the first taste of what Ricky describes as their new sound for his second album. On an Instagram post teasing the new song, Ricky described it as “a song about having a really bad day.”

Despite the catchy chorus, which most of Ricky's songs feature, “Don’t Say That” tells the story of someone going through a bad course of events and trying to connect and reach out with someone else.

"Because i didn't get the job

For which i tried and tried

You know its so, so scary

When you see me for who i really am

You know its so, so scary

When you look right at me in my eyes and I say

Don't say that

Don't be sad

I didn't think people could get this bad"

This seems to be the start of the bad day which Ricky mentioned in the song's promotions. He seems to discuss how it’s scary to be vulnerable about something even as simple as a job rejection. They continue on this similar path of trying to be vulnerable and connecting with this other person through the general chorus of the song.

I think a lot of the song can be interpreted personally in a few different ways, which is the beauty of a lot of Ricky's songs. One of his more popular songs, “Mr Loverman,” depicts their fathers perspective in dealing with a break-up while being a heavy alcohol user, though many interpret it as a song about queer yearning. When the song gained traction, Ricky made a statement saying, “I don’t think I’ve ever written a song that was about just one thing." I think this is a great way to view many of his different songs and music in general as everyone can relate to music in different ways.

Ricky will be joining artists Cavetown, mxmtoon, and a few other alternating artists on the Bittersweet Daze tour this summer. Tickets for the tour can be found at https://bittersweetdaze.com/tickets

Keep up with Ricky Montgomery at https://www.rickymontgomery.com