MUSIC CHATTER AND MATTER

Mindy Smith

Stupid Love

  • AMG Review of Stupid Love

    Amg
    Mark Deming
    All Music Guide

    After the tasteful Southern-accented and acoustic-leaning sound of Mindy Smith's first two albums, Stupid Love finds her dipping her toes into something closer to contemporary pop. Smith is a long, long way from transforming herself into Taylor Swift, but the snappy rhythms and percolating basslines on "Highs and Lows" and "Love Chases After Me" are a good bit more radio-friendly than Smith's earlier work, and "What Love Can Do" recalls the muscular grace of classic era Fleetwood Mac, suggesting that she's eager to play to a broader audience than she has in the past. Ian Fitchuk and Justin Loucks produced Stupid Love with Smith, and while they've dressed up the arrangements and added just a touch of polish to the recording and mix, thankfully Smith herself seems little changed by the new surroundings; her voice is as supple and gracefully balanced as ever, and the 13 songs she wrote (or co-wrote) for the album are literate and emotionally honest stuff, even if broken hearts and alcoholic self-medication pop up fairly often in the lyrics (though her duet with Daniel Tashian on "True Love of Mine" finds her in more contented form). However, while Stupid Love's best moments show she can move her music in different directions and make it work, the arrangements and production too often cover the same ideas over and over, and the album sounds a bit bland and repetitive as a result. It doesn't have to, since the songs generally sound as tuneful and well-crafted as her earlier work, but Stupid Love sounds curiously chicken-hearted when it reaches for its pop gestures, a shame since the songs where she pushes hardest in that direction are the ones that succeed the most.

Mindy Smith - Stupid Love
3 months ago

The best way to understand the present state of Mindy Smith's career is to put that career in the context of how it really began. Mindy Smith was included in an all-star tribute album to Dolly Parton, Just Because I'm a Woman (Sugar Hill, 2003). However, in 2003 Smith was no All-Star, but there she was on an album with Allison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, Kasey Chambers, Shelby Lynne and Norah Jones...

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Mindy Smith: Stupid Love (Review)
3 months ago

On her third album, Mindy Smith still has the exquisite voice of a hummingbird, and the emotional fortitude of one.

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New Americana from Mindy Smith: Stupid Love
3 months ago

Here's the first song (that Rhapsody won't let you play) from Mindy's new album Stupid Love.Mindy Smith is truly an Americana Treasure!

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If I didn't know any better, I would say...
3 months ago

"oh no, not again"But, you're in luck, because I DO know better.Well, she's done it again. First, a Dolly cover, now Alison. I don't believe there to be another artist who could ever do it. Heck yeah Mindy!! Who's next? How about Tanya!! Let's hear some fuzz on those guitars.

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Mindy Smith - Stupid Love
3 months ago

The best way to understand the present state of Mindy Smith's career is to put that career in the context of how it really began. Mindy Smith was included in an all-star tribute album to Dolly Parton, Just Because I'm a Woman (Sugar Hill, 2003). However, in 2003 Smith was no All-Star, but there she was on an album with Allison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, Kasey Chambers, Shelby Lynne and Norah Jones...

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Mindy Smith — Interview
about 1 month ago

Love, loss and real life. Nashville’s singer/songwriter Mindy Smith reveals herself in raw form in her album “Stupid Love,”  which released this past summer. Smith is well known for her debut hit album “One Moment More,” and her appearance on Dolly Parton’s tribute album with her own version of the song “Jolene.” Smith has been [...]

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Mindy Smith: Stupid Love (Review)
3 months ago

On her third album, Mindy Smith still has the exquisite voice of a hummingbird, and the emotional fortitude of one.

More >
Couldn't Stand the Rain
3 months ago

chin upthe storm's passed overand i'll miss the thunderthat bridge i hid undercan't save anyone anyhowi couldn't stand the raini couldn't take the painmy life will never be the samethere's no one here to blamethe sky's turning brighterso i stepped out of my sheltermy heart's getting lighterand i live in the here and nowi couldn't stand the raini couldn't take the painmy life will never be the s...

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