Caitlyn Smith – High (EP)

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Caitlyn Smith, Caitlyn Smith - High (EP), music, Musica

High, the third album from Nashville singer-songwriter Caitlyn Smith, is an exercise in concision. While Smith’s ambitious previous records occasionally overstayed their welcome, this new project offers the artist at her most streamlined.

The title track, a co-write with Jennifer Decilveo and Miley Cyrus, is a pristine pop ballad and among the best Smith has recorded. The song originally appeared in scuzzier form on Cyrus’ 2020 album Plastic Hearts, but Smith’s countrypolitan rendition—a masterclass in both power and restraint—seems destined to become the definitive version.

‘Dreamin’s Free’, on the other hand, which Smith co-wrote with Nashville heavy hitters Shane McAnally and Lori McKenna, is the most subdued song of the set. Contrasting a backyard reverie with the demands of life as an artist, the song offers a timeless country moral: “We ain’t rich but the dreamin’s free.”

Much of the rest of the project finds Smith, who has two sons with her husband and fellow songwriter Rollie Gaalsyck, reflecting on her life as a touring musician. The first verse of the R&B-tinged ‘Good As Us’ finds Smith wine-drunk and alone in Rome (“I stumbled ‘round feeling taller than the Sistine”), while ‘I Don’t Like the World Without You’ conveys the feeling of dread that accompanies long trips away from home.

But if Smith has misgivings the demands of her work, it shows only briefly. There’s little melancholy to be found here; rather, this self-produced set bears the mark of a woman who is secure in her life and in her art. The result is some of Smith’s most intensely listenable work to date.

Tracklist:

01 – High – Intro
02 – High
03 – Dreamin’s Free
04 – Good As Us
05 – Downtown Baby
06 – Nothing Against You
07 – Maybe In Another Life
08 – I Don’t Like The World Without You

OVERALL RATING: 3½ stars

Caitlyn Smith – Supernova (Deluxe Edition) (Album)

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Caitlyn Smith, Caitlyn Smith - Supernova (Album), Caitlyn Smith - Supernova (Deluxe Edition) (Album), music, Musica

Welcome to Emerging Artists Spotlight, the Billboard series where we highlight a musician or band who has recently made their debut on the Emerging Artists chart. Whether they are new to the industry, or have been around for a while but are just starting to have a chart impact, the intention is to showcase where they are here and now. This week’s pick is Caitlyn Smith, who debuted at No. 45 on the chart dated March 28 thanks to the success of her second studio album Supernova.

Hailing from Cannon Falls Minnesota, singer-songwriter Caitlyn Smith has been drawn to music since she was a child.

At the age of 12, she formed her first band and went on to release three albums independently by the time she turned 19. A fan of songwriters like Carole King, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell and Patti Griffin, Smith eventually moved to Nashville where she’d amass cuts by Meghan Trainor and John Legend (“Like I’m Gonna Lose You”), Cassadee Pope (“Wasting All These Tears”), and Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton (“You Can’t Make Old Friends”), among others.

Now signed to Monument Records as an artist, Smith’s second studio album Supernova, released March 13, debuts on the Top Album Sales chart at No. 92 with 1,000 copies sold, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data.

Her powerful single and album opener “Long Time Coming” concurrently stands at No. 37 on the Adult Alternative Songs airplay chart in its third charting week (down from its No. 35 peak last week). The song is her first career entry on one of Billboard’s song charts.

“A lot of life happened between my last record and Supernova,” says the mother of two, who tours the country with her family of four. “This new album holds a vast range of emotion. Each song is a different expression of humanity: loss, change, loneliness, love, fear and hope.

“When my life feels really loud and crazy, I love to sit down at the piano, or pick up my guitar, zoom in really, really small and write about the tiny details that make life so beautiful,” she continues. “My goal is to get to the guts of it. My hope is that this record could be a bright light for some people in this crazy world right now.”

Prior to Supernova, Smith’s major label debut album Starfire reached No. 24 on Americana/Folk Albums and No. 6 on Heatseekers Albums in 2018. Before that, her Starfire (EP) reached No. 18 on Americana/Folk Albums and No. 16 on Heatseekers Albums in 2016.

Tracklist:

01.I Can’t (feat. Old Dominion)
02.Long Time Coming
03.Damn You for Breaking My Heart
04.Put Me Back Together
05.All Over Again
06.I Don’t Want to Love You Anymore
07.Supernova
08.I Can’t
09.Rare Bird
10.Midnight in New York City
11.Fly Away
12.Feel That Way
13.Lonely Together
14.Fix You

OVERALL RATING

4 stars