Teri Bracken has returned with a new single under the Brontë Fall moniker, set to be featured on the Nashville songwriter’s forthcoming album Not Done Yet. The track begins with scorched-earth guitar melodies, a shuffling drum groove, and a roaring organ line. Bracken’s voice steals the show as she effortlessly scales her melodic range and wonders whether this career in music is all it’s cracked up to be. “If I had money / Would all my troubles go away? / If I had money / Would it be the cure to my pain?,” she asks. Spoiler alert: it’s complicated.
Regarding the track, Bracken explains: “‘Worth the Money’ is a commentary in the form of a fierce, lamenting rock song, on how hard it is to make ends meet as an artist in the music industry. If only the humble pursuit of creating art were paid in the currency most other fields were paid: money. Most of the time, the payoff for doing what we do is the self-fulfillment in the process, a pat on the back for giving it a go. That is not to say that I don’t love making music—my love for the process is what keeps me going! But we live in a world where success is measured in green dollar bills. I often wonder, if my career did pay off financially, would it all be easier? Would I be happier? And perhaps that is the million dollar question: Does money make or break one’s happiness? I’m inclined to say of course not. But maybe it would help a little?”
Check out the track below and decide for yourself, and expect Not Done Yet out on October 25.
