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| Popmatters |
 In “Blueprints”, Samantha Crain sings, “No matter how much empathy I give / I will never understand your words”. The lines exemplify where Crain is right now. Even at 23 years old and with just one EP and one prior full-length behind her, Crain sounds wise and experienced. She resists the weariness that her lyric might imply, digging instead into the needs of empathy and understanding. Her new record is, after all, titled You (Understood), and it’s a perpetual search for comprehension of another, aware of the impossibility of the quest, but continually optimistic.If Crain stopped in “Blueprints” with that lack of understanding, it’d be a depressing note about the persistence of alienation, but that’s not the sort of thought that drives this album. She continues by singing, “But you have my heart and all it learns about you”. If we always have gaps around us, we can be closing them, and we can share ourselves across that space. And that’s all lovey enough, but, again, if Crain left it at that sort of sentiment, the disc would quickly take on a mindless sheen. Crain, who sounds a bit like Feist and a bit like Joanna Newsom and who has a strong folk-rock band at her back, knows it’s not that easy. “Blueprints” acknowledges a certain loss of self, and a naïve hope for change. Connection is worth striving for in Crain’s world, but it doesn’t come easy....full text |
| Loveshackbaby |
| Suddenly last night I couldn’t find you. You ran beneath a plume of smoke. And all your sisters, they ran after you. When did you know… that you were chosen? Cause it’s a wicked world for you to grow up in. And it’s a thickened skin, the skin you walk around with. Just don’t get cold. Cause soon your own… fatalistic dreams follow you. And it’s a hapless place that time will tell. I know you don’t need another mother. So I’m giving …you …something … else. Cause it’s a wicked world for you to grow up in. And it’s a thickened skin, the skin you walk around in. Just don’t get cold. Cause soon your own… You can take it slow, you don’t have to know it all…(I’m sorry I went too far.) You can take it slow, you don’t have to know it all… (Im sorry I went too far.) You can take it slow, you don’t have to know it all (I’m sorry I went too far.) You can take it slow, you don’t have to know it all (I’m sorry I went too far.) Cause it’s a wicked world for you to grow up in. Yeah there’s wrong, there’s right. There’s not a list to memorize. Can we see your heart? But I’m blind in that part… in… you. I’m sorry I went too far. “Wichitalright” Samantha Crain knows the advantages to taking it slow, she’s seemingly always known this. From her first EP, The Confiscation, this young woman with her syrupy, quavering voice, has poured out her heart to us in more than a few ways. She’s done traditional folk melodies, alt-country ballads, kick-up-your-boots rock songs and on this new album she stretches even further. What remains constant is that gorgeous contrast between her voice sung low and quiet when it’s soft and velvety and as it is when it’s loud and full throated and lush. This contrast, used again and again (and I never grow weary of it), is woven throughout You (Understood) but doesn’t define this new and beautiful album. I’m having a difficult time defining it at all. Lions mp3 Samantha Crain You (Understood) ….. pre-order here! “Lions” is the winning track for any Samantha Crain fan; it’s a perfect meld of her EP and previous album, Songs In The Night,. What a fitting first track! Other songs like “We Are The Same” are a natural extension of her work, to my ear. Slow and sweet, it takes the advantages of expert production to capture the intimacy of vocals and guitar with simple, pared down harmonies to elaborate equally intimate lyrics. “Santa Fe,” track eight, jumps right off her last album as well, with a very comfortable duet and hint of banjo in the undertones. DC, of The Waiting Room, and I have been drooling over discussing this album for days; we’ve been so excited to get our hands on it. He’s eager for me to tell you just how much ”the basslines are gorgeous, bulbous. The guitars are ragged and sharp. The production is crystal sharp; you can hear the individual layers of instrumentation and the stereo mix is giddyingly spot on. This feels like it has been laboured upon, analysed, poured over, perfected. but you just know this has been perfectly stress-free, with no fuss or needless fiddling.” Yes, I stole those words from him, unabashedly. I also love what I hear on “Blueprints;” a sinewy melody that winds itself around such beautiful and heartfelt lyrics. Here’s what she wrote about the song and posted just yesterday on her MySpace page:...full text |
| Newsok |
| Oklahoma-born and bred singer-songwriter Samantha Crain established herself as a preternaturally gifted young storyteller on her 2008 EP "The Confiscation” and 2009's LP "Songs in the Night.” Advertisement Less than 14 months after the release of her widely praised full-length debut, Crain, 23, can be found focusing less on weaving yarns out of contrasting strands of darkness and light and more on channeling raw emotions into musical form. The 11 tracks on "You (Understood),” due out June 8, microscopically examine her interactions with 16 people. The unusual approach lends an added air of mystery to Crain's usual penchant for penning literate and enigmatic lyrics. The Shawnee native certainly comes across as an artist eager to express her feelings, as confused or confusing as they might be. The acoustic ballad "We Are the Same,” with Stillwater songbird Sherree Chamberlain on background vocals, conveys desperate sadness. The earthy "Santa Fe,” her duet with Matthew Milia of Michigan folk-rockers Frontier Ruckus, emanates wistfulness, even as Milia's bandmate Davey Jones picks a sprightly banjo line. Her first co-write, the foot-stomper "Up on the Table,” penned with Chicago songsmith Becky Beighley, mingles youthful uncertainty and defiance. Crain's foggily evocative voice is one of her best assets, and she seems more in command of her instrument than ever....full text |
Samantha Crain lyrics
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