Coming off the back of tracks like "You Need a Cowboy" and "Good Girl Problem", both landing at #1 on the Local Sounds Top 100 Trending Tracks, Crosby has built serious momentum by poking a stick at old-school country music conventions. Interestingly, her fiery new single, "If She Can Take Him," didnt originate from a cool bar in Nashville; it was born over the hiss of her café's espresso machine.
When we caught up with Victoria recently, we asked her about the exact words she overheard at work that snapped the whole song into focus.
"It was a few years ago now, but I was working in the café and overheard a couple of girls talking about a bloke who had cheated. She said, “Why did she have to take him? It’s not fair.” That line stayed with me because I immediately thought, she didn’t take him, he chose to go. He was the one in the relationship. He was the one who made the commitment, and he was the one who decided to cheat. It got me thinking about how often country songs make the other woman the villain, Jolene, I’m looking at you! So I thought, to hell with Jolene. Maybe it’s time we stopped making the other woman the bad guy and put the blame where it actually belongs: on the bloke who cheated. That conversation became the spark for If She Can Take Him."
Anyone who has ever worked in hospitality knows the chaos behind the counter during a sudden rush of customers. Beyond the conversation itself, we wanted to know if there was a distinct memory that day, a sound, a smell, or an event that instantly pulls her back to that moment.
"Honestly, the strongest thing I remember from that day isn’t a particular smell or sound, it’s the rage I felt on this poor Sheila’s behalf. I felt genuinely bad for her. I remember thinking, what a bloody jerk. I was only accidentally eavesdropping, of course, just one of those workplace hazards when you work in a café! But I was standing there thinking, “Girl, you’re better off. Take the trash out, sweetie!” And I’m pretty sure I gave my own hubby a few choice words later, because apparently he is the official representative for all men everywhere! So whenever I play the song, that’s what takes me back, being behind the coffee machine, accidentally hearing this woman’s story and getting completely emotionally invested in her behalf."
Standard country music convention usually dictates that heartbreak and infidelity song gets the slower, ballad treatment. Victoria went the exact opposite direction and gave the track a serious boost in tempo.
"I knew pretty quickly that I didn’t want to write another sad, slow heartbreak song. There are plenty of those already. I wanted this one to have attitude. The feeling I had was more, “Kick that bloke to the curb, make sure he doesn’t forget his boots, then get yourself pretty and go snag yourself a good one!” So the tempo had to match that energy. It needed to feel like getting your confidence back rather than sitting around crying over someone who clearly wasn’t worth it. I wanted you to be able to put the song on, turn it up and feel like, right, I’m done with you, now watch me move on!"
We asked Victoria whether a specific line in the lyrics took multiple rewrites to nail or if the words flowed out naturally from the start.
"The actual song came out really easily. Once I had the idea and the attitude behind it, the lyrics just seemed to fall into place. There wasn’t really one line that I kept rewriting, the bigger challenge was actually recording it. The song is around 140 beats per minute, so it moves! I had a few redos getting my vocal timing right and making sure I was sitting properly on top of that driving rhythm. It was one of those songs where writing it was the easy part, singing it fast enough without getting my words tangled was the workout!"
By putting the blame squarely onto the cheating bloke rather than the other woman, Victoria Crosby shifts the focus of the story. We asked her if there was one line she sharpened to really drive that point home.
"I don’t think there was one particular line I had to rewrite to make that point sharper, it was really the whole premise of the song. The line “She didn’t steal him, he walked out the door” says exactly what I wanted to say. And then I wanted to really drive it home with “She didn’t take him, he wasn’t yours anyway.” I wanted the song to say, stop giving this bloke a free pass. She didn’t cast a spell on him, she didn’t drag him away, he saw an opportunity and made his own choice. So instead of fighting over him or blaming her, let him go. He’s the one who threw everything away."
The balance between delivering tongue-in-cheek humor and a strong message is a tricky road to travel, but it's quickly becoming Victoria Crosby's trademark style. We asked how she balances the two.
"Honestly, that’s just how I am. I find humour in even the darkest moments because that’s how I cope. I think you can acknowledge that something really hurts while still finding the ridiculous side of it. And with this song, there’s a pretty simple philosophy behind it: the only thing worse than finding out you’ve been with a cheating loser is being with him longer than necessary! I also think, if you really want to punish the other woman, let her have him! She can have the cheating loser, because sooner or later she’ll find out exactly what she’s got. So while I want people to have a laugh and enjoy the cheeky side of the song, there’s a real message underneath it. He’s the one who betrayed you. Don’t waste your energy fighting over him. Let her have him, get yourself out of the situation and move on. I’d much rather turn heartbreak into a bit of sass and a laugh than sit around crying into my wine!"
Sonically, the track's relentless pace owes a massive nod to the fiddle work tearing through the song.
"I just love me a bit of bluegrass fiddle! I could hear a really fast fiddle running through this song in my head from the beginning, so that was actually part of the brief I gave my producer, Jed Demlow. Jed teed up Jordan Larsen, a professional Nashville-based fiddle player, guitarist and mandolin player, who’s known on social media as the “Flippin’ Fiddler.” I knew I wanted the fiddle to be a really active part of the track rather than just sitting in the background, and Jordan absolutely nailed what I was hearing in my head. It was also pretty cool because I actually got to watch Jordan recording some of the track on Facebook. There’s something pretty exciting about hearing an idea you’ve had in your head suddenly being played by a brilliant musician on the other side of the world."
We asked Victoria what the track "If She Can Take Him" would be if it were an actual coffee order from her cafe.
“If She Can Take Him” was a coffee order, it’d be a long black. No milk, no sugar, no messing around, just get the bloody job done and move on. And it would be a takeaway coffee, because once you’ve found out he’s a cheating bastard, you’re not sitting around waiting for him to cool down"
It’s that exact no-nonsense determination that makes Victoria Crosby one of the most entertaining voices on the Australian country music scene. For fans wondering what’s on the horizon, she says there’s plenty more coming.
"The best way to keep up with me is through my socials or my website, where I share what I’m up to and where you can find my music. At the moment I’m just having a lot of fun writing and recording, so there’s plenty happening behind the scenes. Hopefully I’ll have my second album out sometime next year, so that’s the big thing on the horizon. For now, I’m enjoying the process, writing songs I love and seeing where they take me."
If She Can Take Him will be availble on all good streaming platforms from September 4th.
Follow Victoria Crosby on Local Sounds
https://localsounds.com.au/artist/victoria-crosby
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