Caitlyn Smith 'High' Album Review

Cannon Falls, Minnesota singer and songwriter has set free her third studio album, High, into the world via Monument Records. This time, Smith has fully produced this record by herself with a whole new creative vision in mind.

High rings up the curtain with an espied version of “High” that lays at 29 seconds. It’s a glimpse of what’s to come in the uncut version that’s burnished with avant-garde orchestral strings and cherried with a southern twang. The entire composition that found a home near the top of the collection inaugurates with a pure simplicity that sequentially gains dynamism as time rolls on. The song first appeared on Miley Cyrus’ album Plastic Hearts as Smith wrote the song alongside Cyrus and Jennifer Decilveo.

“Dreamin’s Free,” another song that saw the light of day before the record’s release date, was written by Smith, Shane McAnally, and Lori McKenna - two of country music’s biggest hit writers. This song depicts the adversities of making it in music over the years, with a jubilant yet simple cadence that showcases the Minnesota native’s vocal capabilities. She sings, “Yeah, I know that it ain’t been easy / Ain’t got a lot of honey, but we sure got bees / Up to our knees in the weeds and the trouble / ‘cause money don’t grow on trees / We can run but wherever we go / Even the freeway gonna take its toll on you and me, baby / We ain’t rich but the dreamin’s free.”

“Good As Us” trails off of “Dreamin’s Free” and fuses glittery percussion well into the fourth track while “Nothing Against You” slows things down and boasts a sensual sonic landscape.

“Downtown Baby” is one that was previously released ahead of the assemblage and romanticizes all the fun of a night out on the town. It’s a matchless showing of Smith’s pop blends and name drops some big names. Smith sings, “Every time I look at you, have to do a double-take / 'Cause you're a kaleidoscope of Kristofferson, Bob Dylan, and John Wayne / Been swallowed by suburbia, it's got nothing left to give, and I / Think that we both know this isn't how we wanna live, oh no / Take me, downtown baby, hit the concrete / Pull me close and kissin the street / Downtown baby, downtown baby, yeah / Only you can take me higher than high / I just wanna live 'til I die / Downtown baby, downtown baby.”

High closes out with “I Don’t Like The World Without You” - a taste of her beginnings tracks such as “Cheap Date.”

Smith talked about her LP in a press release sharing, “I spent a good portion of last year searching high and low through my memories and dreams. I did what any songwriter would do. I turned off all the outside voices and started turning what I found into something that I want to sing. This song was born from that place. As an artist, dreaming fuels my life - the risks I choose to take and the art that I create and share with the world.”

High Tracklist:

“High Intro”
“High”
“Dreamin’s Free”
“Good As Us”
“Nothing Against You”
“Maybe In Another Life”
“Downtown Baby”
“I Don’t Like The World Without You”

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