Kelsey Montanez and her bandmates make a big noise on the final track of her debut album, and it’s not a whisper, it corkscrews through the speakers in “All There Is,” a gutsy, groove-soaked anthem that sounds like a deep exhale after four years of musical soul-searching. Transmitting the warm grit of early No Doubt, the confessional cool of Courtney Barnett, and Sheryl Crow’s sun-drenched sincerity, Montanez presents something at once timeless and intimately her own.
“All There Is” arrives not just as a single but as a thesis. It’s the 10th and final chapter of a diary that has taken four years to complete, one that has found her on an emotional and artistic journey of self-discovery, risk, and reinvention. And if this track is any indication, the payoff has more than justified the time. Recorded with some top-flight session players, the song doesn’t just sound good, it feels lived-in, with Montanez’s robust voice in fine form, acerbic yet fluent, delivering lines with the kind of lived-in authenticity that can’t be faked. She sings straight toward the double life of it all, performing in restaurants while chasing bigger dreams, and it hits with the unvarnished truth of someone who has been there. There’s a little bit of weariness, yes, but also a profound respect for the randomness of it all.
The song grooves with a laid-back swagger, it’s crisp but not sheeny to death. Guitars shine with the memories of alt-rock, the rhythm section pulsing like a heartbeat, steadying the emotional rollercoaster. It’s that song that makes you want to sing the chorus to your friend through her dorm room window at 2 in the morning because you’re feeling supercharged.
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