It’s not everyday that you come across a creative with as much promise as Portraits Of Tracy, but when that time does come you have to give them their flowers. At just 18 years old, the Baton Rouge, LA native is already thinking on a far higher level than most competent adults ever reach and to think that he’s only scratching the surface of what he’ll become is beyond me. Dropping 18 masterful songs at the same time might seem like an obscene accomplishment given the caliber of these tunes, but the hand-crafted album is a product of the genius that Portraits Of Tracy is and will continue to become. Riding high off the back of the success of his singles, “The Party” and “The Afterparty”, which he recently followed up with my personal favorite, “W. Mckinley”, and “Drunk”, Portraits Of Tracy has primed his listeners to be prepared for a full-length body of work and I can definitively say that the people are ready.
We’re taught to believe that you have to choose between quality and quantity, but Portraits Of Tracy gives us both in his first body of work since 2021, “Drive Home”. Released just last week, “Drive Home” is a culmination of many years of self-searching, experimentation, and reflection on trials and tribulations Couren (a.k.a. Portraits Of Tracy) has experienced as a Black, Queer teen growing up in the deep South. Taking on the persona and character of Junie, the self-taught producer and multi-instrumentalist enjoys the fruits of a financially stable and successful career as an artist before coming to the realization that he’s yet to overcome unresolved childhood trauma. Tugging on just about every emotion fathomable, “Drive Home” is a project with so much depth from a musical and storytelling perspective – with records like “Found!”, “Home”, and “Someday”, I find it hard to imagine that someone could listen all the way through this project and not be blown away. I don’t like to jump to conclusions, but if I was trusting my gut on this I’d say that if “Drive Home” is any indication of what is to come, Portraits Of Tracy is going to be a name that we all know very soon.