What Not To

The title track of Tucker Wetmore’s debut album, <i>What Not To</i>, holds poignant significance for the Washington-born singer-songwriter. As the “Wind Up Missin’ You” hitmaker tells Apple Music, “What Not To” is an advice song in reverse and is inspired by Wetmore’s difficult experiences with his estranged father, whose actions he believes serve as examples of how not to live a loving and fulfilled life. The wrenching tune is also imbued with hard-earned compassion for the man who abandoned Wetmore’s family, with a gut-punch of a lyric at the song’s bridge: “Momma said you don’t pray no more/Breaks my heart, so I do it for you.” “I obviously don’t talk to my dad often, and I haven’t talked to him in years,” Wetmore says. “One of the last conversations we had was him telling me that he don’t pray no more. And that’s when I said, ‘That’s all right, I’ll do it for you.’ And then we parted ways.” While “What Not To” is the beating heart of the album, it is anything but a maudlin affair, with Wetmore peppering in some more upbeat tunes like the moody but playful “Brunette” and the slick, melodic “Drink Alone”. Other highlights include opener “Whatcha Think Is Gonna Happen?”, which pairs a soul-searching lyric with brooding production, and, of course, Wetmore’s biggest hit, “Wind Up Missin’ You”, a sweet and soulful tune about the excitement of new love.