Natalie Del Carmen’s music expresses heartfelt emotions that are corroborated by her latest album, Pastures (Torrez Music Group, 2026), a close-to-earth pastoral of small ideas and big, transportive feelings. On the album’s first song, June, You’re on My Mind, the textures are animated by natural atmosphere, creamy folk/pop designs, and a welcome sincerity in a singalong about letting go while being held. And that voice of hers, cushiony and well-sustained always, is pure pageantry decorated with ageless style that surely will stand the test of time. The nostalgic Leanne was written about her dog’s passing, but it’s not a sad song. She sounds grounded, even when singing to a friend “My pup had passed / it was spring anew / you brought cactus solace / a pot in bloom.” She gravitated towards delight, not despair, and you ascertain that is probably what her pup would have wanted.
She is a child of the pavement and pop radio of Los Angeles and actually recorded her AUK mini-gig session playing a Gibson Dove in her childhood bedroom. “As I’m getting heavier into touring, it was important to have a guitar that I felt represented myself well and the music I play. I settled on the Dove pretty quickly, and I found mine at a local music shop in Malibu called Malibu Music. They’ve got beautiful Gibsons, new and used, and we spent close to 5 hours there that day.”
There is no mistaking, however, that Del Carmen’s music evokes a landscape far more remote than Southern California. Some songwriters make music that reflects their surroundings, but she takes a distinctive approach and has chased down an americana sound of her own making with a common thread of love, vitality, and balance running through it. It reflects an oft-unspoken, deep-bodied affection.
“Growing up and into my early twenties, winning was what you could prove or earn. Pastures is all about separating the wins we constantly measure up against everyone else from what we’ve been simply blessed with. So often, the things that are most like blessings rarely show up in ways the world knows how to measure. ‘Winning’ nowadays feels like all the ways I’m rich in life that don’t involve proving it.”
At age 25, Del Carmen has been a professional musician for roughly four years, “nine if we include my high school era of delusion and optimism.” After graduating from the Berklee School of Music a scant five years ago, she launched her career as a solo artist. “I’ve always used my birth name. I thought up some stage names for fun growing up, but I think I’ll always be Natalie Del Carmen.”
We think that should be more than sufficient. After watching her mini-gig, you’ll want to find out about her music by clicking on the links to her website and Spotify pages. Notes on the songs she plays in the video follow. The first two are originals and the third a dazzling cover of a song by the Shins.
- Good Morning From Magnolia – I’ve written almost every song I’ve got in my childhood bedroom of 24 years. There will come a day to officially flock, but I’m grateful songs come easy to me here. It’s probably the one place in existence I don’t feel bothered. I wrote this song after coming back from school on the East Coast for a few years. I started to miss who I was in LA and all that came with it. I was grateful to be home and feeling like myself again.
- The Middle Stall – Writing around one idiom or metaphor makes for easy hooks and are easy to write around, so I did that with this song. My dad always tells my brother and I to “stay 50/50.” Sort of like when good falls on you, acknowledge it. But when something goes awry, or not quite your way, to stay even emotionally. He believes life comes in waves, up and down, so we must not swing too far one way or the other. I suppose that’s pretty realistic life advice, but it works. But I guess I struggle to celebrate anything because I feel the rug will be pulled out at any moment. I’m very much a realist deep down, I think.
- Gone For Good (Cover by the Shins, written by James Mercer) – My first official cover song comes out June 12th of The Shins’ Gone For Good. I think I made a good choice with this one, as it’s one of the best songs ever written in my opinion. I was born two years before the song came out, but I think Millennials and Gen Z-ers like myself can come together and love this song every time it comes on. We definitely made it more country in essence, and I hope to have done the original justice.
