Friday, July 6, 2012

Mindy Smith's New Masterpiece

Mindy Smith’s new self-titled album finds her moving back to her roots. She delivers the music in a way that is truly her own. It is a rare quality to be able to exude this kind of passion so overtly. However it is natural for Smith, the emotions of each song rise up from  inside of her, and then overtake the listener like a Geyser. For example, on the Blues and Soul infused “Don’t Mind Me” she expresses a loneliness that she needs to experience and work through. It is ironic, but while loneliness is painful, the words of others aren’t always the best help, healing must start from within. The album is full of such brutal honesty. The message is delivered in many forms. There is the upbeat Country-Swing of “Tin Can”, melodic mid-tempo songs like “Pretending the Stars”, and more mellow and atmospheric songs like “The Devils Inside”. The latter song says ”Those devils inside, those demons you hide, they keep your angels inspired. Thank God for the devil’s inside”. When an artist can combine such deep and thoughtful lyrics with careful musical craftsmanship the result is usually a masterpiece. That is certainly the case for Mindy Smith’s current project.

The album opens with an excellent but more radio friendly song “Closer”, which is in rotation on CMT. I just hope fans and listeners dig deeper than their TV screens. The young songwriter, who took the world by storm with her rendition of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” and followed it up with her own highly acclaimed song “Come to Jesus”, has recovered the raw emotion and spirituality from her early recordings and created the defining masterpiece of her career.