John Smith - Candle

Artiest: John Smith  Format: single Titel: Candle Release datum: 23 februari ‘Candle’ is the new single taken from critically acclaimed singer-songwriter and guitarist John Smith’s seventh album ‘The Living Kind’, produced by Joe Henry (Lisa Hannigan, Rhiannon Giddens, Guy Pearce, Bonnie Raitt, Joan Baez).

Premiered by Holler today, alongside the captivating performance video, it is a song about the “shock of a terminal diagnosis” and, to quote John, “how it interferes completely with the flow of life. It’s about moving through the experience towards finding a way to cope, as a carer, without burning out.”

The track is the third to be revealed from the new album, which is the first body of new music since John’s sixth studio album ‘The Fray’, which helped him amass over 100 million streams on Spotify. In support of the album’s release, John embarks on a major UK tour in April, including London’s Union Chapel on 4th April.

On ‘The Living Kind’, John Smith’s generational talent on the guitar and unique synthesis of styles puts him halfway across the Atlantic.  Produced by Joe Henry (Lisa Hannigan, Rhiannon Giddens, Guy Pearce, Bonnie Raitt, Joan Baez), it is a gloriously subtle and moving 10 track collection that is a truly contemporary body of work.

Recorded entirely live at Joe Henry’s home in Maine, the idea for the album was first cooked up at the start of 2022, when Joe and John decided to make an intimate record together – “an acoustic album that sounded like Spirit of Eden”, Smith explains, referencing Talk Talk’s 1988 classic. Along with John Martyn’s Solid Air and Joni Mitchell’s electro-acoustic odyssey Hejira, it was one of the three creative inspirations for The Living Kind.

‘The Living Kind’  is a truly cohesive song-cycle that seems to be cast in one rich tone-colour, one powerful mood. As John explains, the album is about “responsibility and being keenly aware of your place within a family dynamic. When I started writing these songs, I knew immediately what was happening; in the space of three years, I had essentially become a different person and had a lot more to deal with. I wrote the songs just as we were beginning to rebuild our lives. They are about changing for the better in the face of loss. Celebrating the good things and facing up to the bad. Staying positive, trying to keep an eye on the centre, holding on to those we love and working towards a better future.”

The track list for ‘The Living Kind’ is:

1. Candle
2. Milestones
3. The Living Kind
4. Trick of the Light
5. Silver Mine
6. Dividing Line
7. Too Good To be True
8. Horizons
9. The World Turns
10. Lily