After going three years without dropping a new album, it’s great to see Brandy Clark back and putting out new music, as she prepares to drop her self-titled project on May 19th.
Last month, the 11-time Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter dropped the lead single, “Buried.”
And now, she’s back at it again, dropping her latest single “She Smoked In The House” today.
Clark weighed in on the song:
“I was driving around listening to a lot of Merle Haggard. I got stuck on ‘Are the Good Times Really Over for Good’ for weeks. That song really makes me think of my grandparents and that generation. I just couldn’t get away from it.
So I started on a song called ‘They Smoked in the House,’ but I just couldn’t connect with it in the way that I needed to. I remembered someone once telling me that to be general, you must be specific and so I pivoted and started working on ‘SHE Smoked in the House.’ The ‘SHE’ is my grandma Ruth.
To this day, my grandma Ruth is my favorite character to ever walk the planet. Looking back, I wrote this song because I was missing her and the things that she valued in life. I never thought that it would ever be on a record. It was for me… but now it’s for you too.”
The album was recorded at Shangri-La studio in Malibu, California.
Clark discussed the purpose behind the new project:
“This album is a return home to me in many ways. Musically it’s the rawest I’ve been since ’12 Stories’ and maybe even rawer. When Brandi and I sat down and talked about working together, one thing that really intrigued me was her saying ‘I see it as your return to the northwest.’
(Since the two of us are both from Washington state). That comment inspired so much for me. It took me back to where and how I grew up. ‘Northwest’ and ‘She Smoked In The House’ were both a result of that early conversation.
Working with another recording artist on this project was such a gift that I didn’t even know I needed and changed the way I want to write songs and make records moving forward. My hope is that anyone who hears this album will feel the heart that I put into every note of it.”
The album was also produced by famed singer/songwriter Brandi Carlile, who also weighed in on Clark’s record:
“Brandy is one of the greatest songwriters I’ve ever known. And I feel like I now know exactly who Brandy Clark is through the portal of this singular brilliantly written album. When I heard the songs for this album, they took me back to the first time I heard Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.
I was thinking about Tom Petty, The Pretenders, Kim Richey, Sheryl Crow, Shelby Lynne and the soul of 90s Americana before it had a name. Brandy’s voice is like a friend you’ve had your whole life the second you hear it. I know I’m not alone in feeling this way. This is her moment. This is the one.
Sometimes an artist only gets one shot at an album like this in their life. This is the time Brandy has chosen to reveal herself to the world as an artist and a woman and I was blessed beyond measure to be the person she trusted to support and facilitate that swan dive.”
Give “She Smoked In The House” a listen:
