If you’ve spent some time paying attention to local music, Durham’s Skylar Gudasz should be a familiar name. Of late, she’s been involved with Big Star’s Third, the Chris Stamey-led project that pays tribute to the great, late pop band. She also lent her voice to Josh Moore’s Parted Ways earlier this year.
Under her own name, though, Gudasz has only put out a 2011 EP and a few more great singles, like last year’s “Dream Lover.” Earlier this week, she finally announced that her first-ever full-length, Oleander, would drop in February. Consequence of Sound also premiered the first track from the LP, “I’m So Happy I Could Die.” It’s a sharp and wry number, balancing tongue-in-cheek wit with open sincerity.
Gudasz’s tune acknowledges the gnarly gray area of getting dumped: You want to show everyone how totally fine you are, but the situation sucks, and you maybe do want to die a little bit, too. Gudasz’s sometimes-deadpan vocal delivery matches her listless appearances in the video—she gets hit by a beanbag, soaked by a sprinkler, rides down a water slide, lies face down in the grass and on the floor without any expression.
An instrumental break toward the middle of the song brings some tasty, twangy guitar solo to the forefront. It’s a little off-kilter, fitting in perfectly with the song’s overall tone. Though the song’s vaguely thumping beat is a little at odds with Gudasz’s general inclination toward attitude-heavy Americana on the song, her lyrics and delivery are what we’re here for. There are too many super one-liners to choose from, and they all add up to one of the best break-up songs you’ll hear this year.
