Fresh from triumphant appearances in London at the C2C festival last month, powerhouse vocalist and songwriter, Caitlyn Smith, releases ‘High’ (Out April 8th), the first half of her ‘High & Low’ album, with part II scheduled to come later this year, or maybe in the early part of 2023.
Smith has famously written tracks like ‘Wasting All These Tears’ for Cassadee Pope, ‘You Can’t Make Old Friends’ for Dolly & Kenny Rogers and ‘Tacoma’ for Garth Brooks, as well as having songs cut by artists such as Rascal Flatts, John Legend, Meghan Trainor and Miley Cyrus. Her debut album, ‘Starfire’ (2018) was a thing of passion and power, with tracks like ‘This Town is Killing Me’ bringing her to the attention of the Country music crowd. Follow up album, ‘Supernova’ (2020) was a little more Pop-leaning and heavier on the production flourishes although ‘I Can’t’, which ended up as a duet with Old Dominion, was a cracker of a song and ‘Put Me Back Together’ did great things in a slightly different arena too.
Speaking on her new project, which is being split into two parts, Smith said, ““For far too long, I’ve let this fear of failure sit in the driver’s seat. So, I leaned into a more supportive community, and I learned to trust my own compass. I was so curious to know what my music would sound like now. Through this process I’ve grown, and I’ve made a record I’m really proud of… a record that’s all mine.” Smith should be proud of ‘High’, it’s a powerful, emotive and evocative project that sends the listener on a rollercoaster journey of emotions.
The album opens with the title track, a re-working of a song that first appeared on Miley Cyrus’ ‘Plastic Heads’ album in 2019. ‘High’ is a tasteful, powerful number with Gospel-like overtones. ‘Sometimes I get a little too high…..sometimes I get a little too low,’ Smith sings as the song builds in carefully planned layers. It eventually breaks out in monstrous proportions with delightful fiddles (provided by the one and only Amanda Shires) in-between the verses too. A series of twists and turns take the listener on a real journey that leaves you exhausted and exhilarated as the last notes fade away at the end. ‘High’ is a real statement of intent and the perfect vehicle with which to showcase Smith’s vocal prowess and writing ability too.
The evolution of Caitlyn Smith as a performer and a songwriter is nowhere more in evidence than on tracks like ‘Good As Us’ and ‘Downtown Baby’. Both tracks are smooth, slick Country-Pop in the style of someone like Lady A. This is a step forward for Smith, who manages to embrace commerciality and the acceptance of the need to court radio within the Country genre without sacrificing any integrity or class. The former is dripping in layered keys and insistent, driving drums. It also contains one of the catchiest choruses you’ll hear this side of a Hillary Scott and Charles Kelley co-write in terms of cadence and melody whilst ‘Downton Baby’ finds Smith, ‘laughing on a late night bus, nightmares and angel dust,’ yearning for a break in routine with the promise of a crazy night out. Slick vocals combine here with urgent, insistent melodies meaning that Smith delivers the perfect radio song that oozes both style and class.
That word, class, is one I keep coming back to when describing this album. There are no wasted lines on ‘High’ and no rhymes thrown in just to be able to move a song forward. Everything here has been birthed with care and love and a kind of passion for the song that is rare to find outside of the great modern writers like Shane McAnally and Lori McKenna. Speaking of which, let’s talk about ‘Dreamin’s Free’, which features both those two aforementioned heavyweights on co-writing duties alongside Smith. ‘Dreamin’s Free’ is a quiet, self-contained song with a restrained arrangement and ephemeral melody: one for the dreamers everywhere! ‘We ain’t rich, but the dreamin’s free,’ Smith states, leaving you with sunset-drenched images of wild flowers, wheat fields and long, floral dresses on this wonderfully evocative yet simple track.
Elsewhere, that simplicity can be found on songs like ‘Nothing Against You’ and ‘I Don’t Like the World Without You’. The former is a Bluesy, Joni Mitchell-esque number that segues into a gorgeous, gravel-throated chorus that contains echoes of Whitney Houston and the great R&B, Motown singers of the past whilst ‘I Don’t Like the World Without You’ is a quiet, acoustic song about missing your family and the ones you love. I saw her perform this song at the Bluebird Cafe session in London at last month’s C2C festival and you could have heard a pin drop during the performance. It’s an emotional, evocative song that drills right into the paradox that touring musicians must have to face on a regular basis, that choice between playing music for a living and being away from your family. More 60’s leaning, Folk vibes abound here as Smith closes down this part of the ‘High & Low’ journey in some style.
Special mention must be made for what is destined to be this album’s stand out track and potential future ‘signature song’ for Caitlyn Smith. Again, we saw her perform ‘Maybe in Another Life’ a number of times across the C2C festival weekend in London last month (March 2022) and not once did I make it to the end of the song without shedding a tear. Sometimes it was because of the power of her performance whilst at other times I just seemed to get swept away with the narrative of the story and the heartbreak behind it. From it’s quiet beginnings to when the strings and drums kick in in verse 2 through to what can only be described as a ‘Tacoma-esque’ money-shot moment, (wait till you watch Smith do this live!) ‘Maybe in Another Life’ is one of those rare songs, those cinematic beauties, that transport you away from your surroundings and throw you headfirst into the story and the heartbreak of another world. Who needs the Metaverse? Who needs an Occulus Quest when songs of this power and magnitude and take you into other people’s 3D worlds? A real contender for song of the year and an obvious awards show highlight too, ‘Maybe in Another Life’ is just a beautiful piece of music backed by a beautiful performance.
Smith said of her current project, “I leaned into a more supportive community.” That community, the Country music community, has taken her to its heart over here in the UK, after seeing her performances in London. ‘High’ is a special piece of music, a powerful and emotional collection of songs that really benefits from Smith’s focus and connection with the genre that hasn’t always been there as she moved across various styles and spectrums as a songwriter. Ironically, now that she and her family have moved away from Nashville, the artist who wrote ‘This Town is Killing Me’ has finally found a home and a community that have fallen in love with her passion and powerful, evocative songs. When you consider that Smith herself, produced this album, even more plaudits need to be offered her way!
Some of us could see it right from the ‘Starfire’ days, for others it’s taken a while. However you find your way to Caitlyn Smith, once there, you’ll find an artist of real worth and one that can make you feel things you didn’t know you needed to feel. This is only part 1 of the project, heaven knows what’s going to happen to us when ‘Low’ arrives further down the line!
Tracklist: High – Intro 2. High 3. Dreamin’s Free 4. Good As Us 5. Downtown Baby 6. Nothing Against You Lyrics 7. Maybe In Another Life Lyrics 8. I Don’t Like The World Without You Record Label: Monument Records Purchase: Buy ‘High’ Right Here
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