Ahead of her debut album, ‘Move On With The Year’, Costelloe has dropped the new single, ‘Damned If You Do’, to kick off this new musical era. It’s deceptively upbeat in sound, almost fooling listeners with ambient lighthearted strums as it takes a bitter look at relationships and luck. A closer listen reveals a deeper theme, however. She sings of watching friends “walking down the aisle, tears in their eyes” and imagining herself “standing in the chapel”. It’s a cynical take on marriage and love from a wounded perspective in life, sung with the soft lilt of an indie darling.
Costelloe’s vocals are given that desired space to move freely here. Without the accompaniment of former band member Kacey Underwood, there are no harmonies to fall back on, but it’s soon clear this won’t be an issue. She glides with both ease and an intentional crack between pitches for that desired kitschy charm - rusty in all the right places and a little Kimya Dawson-esque to the ears.
Production-wise, there’s something relatively simple yet not without a few welcome tricks. Melodically, this is controlled by that easy guitar switching between chord patterns - for a song of this nature, that’s not unexpected, but Costelloe’s choice for a whimsical flute accompaniment may be. Simply, not enough woodwind trills can be found in music these days. There’s nothing unwelcome about such a joyful little sound to carry us through once vocals move into a higher register, and it makes for truly individual instrumentation.
In all, Costelloe is moving in the right direction for her solo ventures with introspective lyrics and a bright composition. Her debut album is set to be released February 6th 2026, followed by a brief UK tour stint.
Sofia Neal
Image: Bex Aston
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