Smith & McClennan – Small Town Stories
White Fall Records – 15 November 2019
Over the last two decades, Emily Smith has quietly carved a reputation as a fine purveyor of traditional material. She has in fact released eight solo albums on which her ability to unlock the heart and soul of a lyric and a melody has won widespread acclaim, including being twice named Scots Singer Of The Year. Add to that her origins as a BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year plus nominations for the Radio 2 Folk Awards and the profile of an artist that many have queued up to give kudos and credit to starts to emerge. Her partner, in both marriage and music, Jamie McClennan is a multi folk instrumentalist who has for years played in Emily’s band as he developed a notable career as a supporting musician to other artists. It was surely a given that eventually the couple would need to address the urge to create their own music together and so, with ‘Small Town Stories’, they are finally announcing themselves to the world as a recording duo.
The arrival of Smith & McClennan feels significant, it feels right. In those decades of gestation, of learning and growing, of gathering both musical experience and maturity they have become rather adept at their respective elements. So, they bring to the table a debut offering that is not tentative in the slightest; it’s assured, confident and at ease with its strengths. They sing and play music that reflects their domestic life, lived in rural south-west Scotland. Stridently, the pair play with their primary influences and musical passions. Country and Americana burn through fiercely, with echoes of Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings ringing loud and true but you can also detect a love of the Nashville crew with Chris Stapleton, Miranda Lambert and even Kacey Musgraves being acknowledged as admired by both these artists.
Above all, the arrival of Smith & McClennan as a self-contained act heralds a song writing showcase of Jamie McClennan. This is the backbone of the ten-track album, as Jamie is responsible for eight of the tunes here. Inevitably this means that the record has a deeply personal undertone running through its waters. As fine an interpreter of traditional material as Emily Smith has repeatedly shown herself to be, there’s something about tackling your own original work that can really push a vocalist to another level. In teaming up with his partner and creating songs for her to ignite with that beautiful, pure and natural voice, Jamie McClennan has chanced upon the perfect vehicle for a potentially colourful career in songcraft. This may well prove to be a mere launch pad if he chooses to explore that pathway further. I think he really should, these are solid original songs in the singer-songwriter tradition.
None of this should imply that the two non-McClennan pieces are inessential to the overall song suite. Quite the opposite, the second track gives Emily’s long-term fans a reminder of her heritage with a heartfelt re-interpretation of the traditional broadside ballad ‘Sailin’s A Weary Life’. Later, the album takes a shift in tone with a cover of Willow Macky’s sixties peace anthem ‘Better Than War’. This one sways breezily with its pacifists’ message of hope, but Jamie’s fiddle underpins this sing-along with a note of caution, an unsettling background presence that seems to highlight that the idealistic messages of the peace and love generation remain unfulfilled all these years later.
Producer Ross Hamilton has brought some invaluable ingredients to the table as well. A producer with Mark Lanegan, Isobel Campbell and Texas on his CV, here his primary objective is to capture the sound with a natural analogue ambience that doesn’t dampen down the duo’s empathy as musicians. He certainly achieves that, there’s a clear crisp air to this recording that allows the performance to sit in the spotlight without unnecessary production getting in the way. When he does add his own elements, they are subtle yet incredibly effective. Like the powerful gunshot drums punctuating the backdrop to ‘Hummingbird’, Ross’s touches are understated and so much the better for that. With additional work on guitar, bass and piano too, he’s met these artists on a musical level and helped them create a situation for a recording that clearly inspired them. The end results speak volumes.
Ultimately, I come back to the originals that are the real backbone of this album. Jamie is comfortable with opening up about childhood memories and the real-life wounds and dramas that were healed by family love received inside a home that was so much more than the ‘Bricks And Mortar’ of the songs title. On ‘Wait For Me’ it’s the writers own violin solos that elevate a lovely song which, once again, has no qualms about being an open book emotionally; here the lyrical concern is that of an absent lover dealing with insecurities that the longing he feels during separation from his loved one are being reciprocated on the other side. Jamie takes the lead vocal himself on this one, perhaps pointing to a more personal attachment to the lyric? It’s certainly sung with enough conviction, as is everything throughout this record.
With a voice like Emily’s in the mix, it is impossible to not focus on what a key component that is to the listening pleasure over the ten songs. But while she may be the first thing your ears gravitate towards, most of the vocals here are sung together by the duo and they blend intriguingly well. Not actually by trying to sound alike, more by sticking to their individual strengths. Where Emily prizes out the gorgeous tones of the melodic flavours, Jamie gets to the grit of the lyrics singing in a style more focused on narration. Together the effect is rather powerful and the album opener, ‘Firefly’, waves that flag right from the off. ‘What use a father who outlasts his son?’ one line asks and together, the two voices provide enough tone and gravitas to ensure these words do not slip by unnoticed.
Further into the album, I detect another fresh evolution in Emily’s singing that perhaps points to future musical progressions this duo could make. ‘Long Way Down’ is the punchiest track on the album and indeed its poppiest moment. As such it stands as a centrepiece on ‘Small Town Stories’ and unleashes Emily’s inner thunder as she pushes the tune to its boundaries. I think I can hear a touch of the Christine McVie’s in there, which can only be a recommendation. To sound so lush and yet so simultaneously blue isn’t a trick any old vocalist can pull out of the bag. But that’s where I believe Smith & McClennan have triumphed on this debut release, in creating personal music that tells us more about who they are than we’ve ever heard before and suggests they’re only at the beginning of a fruitful musical adventure.
Small Town Stories is out today (15 Nov). Order via White Fall Records here: https://whitefallrecords.com/product/small-town-stories-preorder/
ALBUM LAUNCH SHOW
22 Nov 2019 @ The Fullarton | Castle Douglas Tickets
CELTIC CONNECTIONS
01 Feb 2020 @ The Mitchell Theatre | Glasgow Tickets
More here: https://smithandmcclennan.com/