Tangling country music and rock n’ roll is nothing new, and Cody Jasper isn’t righteous about doing as much in 2022. There’s increased visibility when it comes to songs that owe something to multiple schools, and in terms of the music he’s recorded thus far, I appreciate why “Who You Are” is the Jasper track so many people and critics have been interested in lately. With a country structure and rock cosmetics that turn up the emotionality of the lyricism well past what it would have stood at on its own, “Who You Are” is a brilliantly balanced piece of material that wants us to embrace both sides of its personality, no matter what we’re normally inclined towards in pop music.
There are definitely some bluesy elements to the swing of the rhythm in this performance, but we’re not listening to the removed stomp of something archaic. If you’re looking for something stock in the blues sense, this is not a song that is going to impress you; but, for those of us who want something inventive and never derived from another model, this is something you’re going to want to hear for yourself this July. Jasper is very confident, but it’s not even his swagger that makes everything feel more comfortable in “Who You Are;” it’s his actual method of delivery, which brings to mind a live show more often than it ever does something I would have expected to come out of a lengthy studio session.
I really like that the harmonies in this single aren’t overbearing next to this beat, but instead feel like the right buffering between artist and narrative. There’s never a moment where it sounds like we’re listening to an artist who is getting lost in his own story; Jasper is front and center with us, and through the melodic trappings of the mix we’re able to get a genuine feel for what he cares about in a performance, rather than what his aim is as a composer exclusively. The latter is valid without question, but because of the kind of music we’re listening to here, it’s much more exciting to get a taste of who this singer/songwriter can be when all of the expectations have gone out the window.
Classic rock with a county bend isn’t hard to find if you’re looking at retro releases, but for contemporary content, you cannot go wrong with what Cody Jasper is playing at the moment. “Who You Are,” much like “Disco Lemonade,” is a track promoting artistic equality in more than a couple of departments, but it isn’t out here to make a statement beyond the personal for its singer. Jasper gains our respect with depth rather than a departure from the mainstream familiarity that is bound to help an artist of his caliber gain more ground on a bigger market in the future, and when you look at what most of the indie players trying to record this style of music are doing, his methods are preferable by leaps and bounds.
Chadwick Easton