Peyton’s “Let It Flow” is a simple song about that tried-and-true therapeutic device: going to your happy place.

And by 10 seconds into its video, she’s all but spelled out exactly where hers is: TEXAS.

Liberty, to be exact, the birthplace of her mother.

Between the setting of the video and Peyton’s absolutely angelic vocals, what’s usually pretty trite subject matter gets a breath of fresh air. If you know me personally, it probably goes without saying that I love Black folks on horseback. But have you ever seen one sing on horseback, let alone with this much swag? No, no you have not. But my favorite moment in the video comes when we see Peyton leading an older woman mounted on a horse. It’s touching (and then really funny) even if you don’t know who the woman in the saddle is.

But you know I’m gonna enlighten you. That woman is Peyton’s grandmother in what begins as a really sweet visual of respect for your ancestors, and ends with a perfectly timed lyrical punch line that’s also a nod to Southern grandmas who love Jesus but cuss a little. Peyton’s other grandmother is Houston’s Theola Booker, Grammy-nominated songwriter, composer and arranger for Reverend James Cleveland, and jazz and gospel singer. (She also taught Beyoncé piano at Houston’s Parker Elementary.) Peyton herself is also a classically trained singer and violinist. The song and video for “Let It Flow” and Peyton’s career thus far is the musical culmination of generations. “Music has always been a solace for me, it’s the only thing that I wanted to do, the only thing that I knew how to do,” she says.

Peyton’s combined that idea of music as a figurative happy place and the Houston-area as her literal happy place in the details of most everything she’s released so far. The cover of PSA, her 2021 full-length debut, features art by the Third Ward’s own Lance Flowers, and while I’m usually 50/50 on rap features in songs where the lead voice is so delicate, Houston rapper Brice Blanco‘s conversational flow is like a puzzle piece fitting right in between the sonic elements Peyton’s already established by the time he slips in.

But even if you aren’t from Houston, don’t skip out on the vibe in “Let It Flow.” A synth bass beat that’ll rattle your speakers contrasts with Peyton’s veil-thin soprano better than it seems like it should, and her ADORABLE little dance sequence next to a broken down vintage car in an empty field is the perfect metaphor for her sound throughout PSA. The background is a little grimy, the subject matter is raw, but her vocals at the forefront are an absolute delight. “I want my listeners to understand the layers of my sound,” she says. “There are so many topics of honesty that are subtly fearless. I want my listeners to feel fearless and cool when they listen or sing along.”

And that’s not just lip service. After she’s poured her heart out on PSA, she closes the album with her gorgeous cover of “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. It doesn’t get much more fearless, cool, and “happy place” than that.

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