If there’s one thing that I really appreciate about TikTok, it’s the specificity of the algorithm. While I know that not everyone has the same experience with it as I do, the TikTok algorithm has served to introduce me to an ever-expanding roster of small musical artists that I likely never would have found without it. Thanks to their diverse musical creations, I have been able to create extremely specific Spotify playlists and scream out hard-hitting lines on long car drives. But of all these artists, there’s one in particular that I keep coming back to.
This summer, I was lucky enough to go to Leanna Firestone’s Least Favorite Only Child Tour. I discovered her on TikTok through her songs “Smitten” and “Strawberry Mentos,” and I soon followed her both there and on Spotify to see what other music she had written. Her debut album Forward/Slash came out soon after, and I was hooked.
So, why should you listen to Leanna Firestone? She is an expert songwriter, a beautiful singer, and an excellent musician from Nashville, Tennessee. Her music falls into the indie-pop or bedroom pop genre and is a perfect example of all the deeply personal lyricism that entails. My own experience, and what I gleaned from the others at the concert, suggests that most of her appeal comes from the relatability of her music. There’s something special about a room of people screaming that they’ll “be a teenage girl Foreverever” or crying about the emotional lyrics in “Least Favorite Only Child” that cannot be replicated.
Her newest release, the Good Grief EP, features “Special,” “ESOEMOEHOED” (Every Second of Every Hour of Every Minute of Every Day), “Good Grief,” “Tourniquet,” and the aforementioned “Foreverever.” It is an exploration of the many varied emotions of being a woman in her early twenties and the life experiences and traumas that entail.
If she sounds like an artist you’d like, you should take a listen so you can understand why her music resonates with so many people who hear it. Additionally, while the links present throughout this article are for Spotify, her music is also available on Apple Music and YouTube, so you can listen on your preferred streaming platform. I hope you find some songs you love!