Your Smith – The Rub

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It’s a bit hard to believe that The Rub is the debut full-length record from Your Smith, since she’s been making music for several years. Alas, the long-awaited full artistic statement from the talented songwriter has arrived. After a series of events (the COVID-19 pandemic, starting a family) that led Caroline to step away from the music scene after her excellent last release, 2019’s Wild Wild Woman EP, The Rub finds Your Smith at her most focused, with a knack for crisp and picturesque songwriting. The Rub was recorded with a band at Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, MN, and the record is largely centered around the theme of coming home and re-connecting with the people that make our lives the most worthwhile. The Rub tends to “rub” off on listeners in a great way, and it’s an album that deserves its moment in time.

”Change of Heart” opens the album with breathy vocals and a more somber approach than what dominated the Wild Wild Woman EP. Your Smith sets a great tone of a songwriter truly coming into her own and wasting little time in wanting to develop her sound. The song is filled with a lush arrangement that has some backing horns and a soft approach to her vocal cadence that wraps around the listener like a warm, comfortable sweater. “Telephone Line (Hanging Up All My Hopes)” features some disco-infused guitars in an up-tempo song that really shines in its production. Your Smith is still more than capable of crafting a great pop song, and tracks like this prove it over and over again.

”Leaving You” settles into a nice groove within some electric guitar parts from her backing band, while Your Smith delves into her personal life and experiences. The opening lyrics of, “It’s only in the quiet when my mind jumps / To laughing until we almost spit our wine out / So I break up the silence with a phone call / Jump into the shower and call my mom up / Listen, the issue is I think I’ve tried everything / The pieces don’t seem to fit / So I get high, I cannot win / I’m dreaming of your face again,” reminded me of the great storytelling of similar artists like Maggie Rogers and HAIM, with equally-pleasing delivery. “Hey There’s My Girl” is a summery track about falling in love, as Your Smith shares, “I mean, I’ve said I love you at least a thousand times by now / But the drinks on our breath, the feet in the St Croix / Made it different somehow,” as she falls head over heels into a warm relationship. Her great vocal performance comes across perfectly for this type of song, and you can almost feel the smile behind her every lyric.

”Christina” dives further into the pop realm as Your Smith swoons over a dancey track with a bouncy chorus. The second verse of, “It ain’t against the law to buy a boat, ya know / It happens every day, Christina / You could throw a lot out in the ocean / With no one ever knowin’, I’m just sayin’ / So take it or leave it, I can keep a secret / Even drive the boat home,” is rich with lush details about her connection to this person, and the song features some 80’s elements like synths and slick guitar parts to make it a memorable part of the set. “Smooth Talker” plays out like a bit of a 70’s disco throwback with it’s frenetic energy and cool keyboard parts in it, while “Mr. Revival” starts off with a great beat and never lets up with its captivating pop-laced structure. “Mr. Revival, hand in the fire / Take it on up come on / Take it up higher / Mr. Revival, Mr. Revival / Come on, won’t you make a man out of me?” begins the first part of the chorus that features breathy vocals from Your Smith, as she cements her status as great musician and writer in today’s singer-songwriter genre.

”Little Highways” begins with some delicately played piano strokes, and it begins to unfold majestically in the picturesque second verse of, “And you say / I’d give up my weekend, I’d give it a try / It takes a new meaning as you roll on your side / A shuffle of paper, our keys on the dash / It won’t be forever but we know it’ll last.” Your Smith sways over the beat with great poise and musicianship, as her backing band supports her every move. Even more somber songs like “Lyin'” are filled with more great vocal performances, and lush, vivid lyrics about the intricacies of relationships, “Peaches” was one of the earlier songs to be released as a single from The Rub sessions, and Your Smith explains in the chorus, “Old tables of produce and tobacco leaves / Scorched farmland and peaches turn to evergreens / I turn to the side to blow the smoke away / I can’t help but crying when I see your face,” with a beating heart behind every lyric.

”Stranger” is the shortest song in the set, and is largely used as a precursor the closing duo of songs over it’s acoustic guitar and distant-sounding vocals. The lines of “You paid your tab / Without seeing me there / Scraped up your keys / And headed back out to your car / Like a stranger” are full of great lyrical imagery that showcase how Your Smith came into her own on her debut record. “Down the Line” again uses a rustic, acoustic guitar sound in its arrangement, but instead of having the echoing vocals like the previous track, Your Smith remains front and center in her crisp vocal performance. The closer of “Love Me Again” with its lasting lyrics of, “Don’t you remember the dead of December / Snow coming down by the pound? / You wrapped me up in that sweater you loved / And said, ‘Baby, I ain’t going nowhere’ / Well, what changed? / What’d I do to make you love me back then? / Anyways, I was wondering / Could you love me again?” find Your Smith at her most vulnerable and lovelorn self, as the piano ballad has a great lasting impact on the listener. The Rub is a stellar and remarkable opening statement for an artist who seems wise beyond her years, and I hope that others see the magic in this release as well.

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