Santa Barbara is home these days for Naomi Jane, a songwriter, singer and multi-instrumentalist whose upbringing took her from Manhattan to Southern California. Her background includes classical vocal training and musical theatre, while her songwriting has moved through pop into country.
“Passenger Princess,” co-written with Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket, opens her album Kinda Sorta Country with a relationship argument dressed for a sunny afternoon drive. The title arrives carrying a fairly specific promise: someone else handles the traffic while you choose the music and enjoy being adored.
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Jane picks at the arrangement until the resentment becomes visible. Being looked after has slipped into being managed. Her narrator wants a say, and the demand at the centre of the song, “move over and let me drive,” gives that frustration a wonderfully practical outlet. There’s pleasure in the tune, friction in the relationship, and a woman ready to put her own hands on the wheel.
