Caitlyn Smith is Commanding, Captivating on ‘Starfire’

EDITOR’S NOTE: As 2018 comes to a close, we’re looking back at some releases from the year that we didn’t get a chance to write up when they were released. Caitlyn Smith’s Starfire was released in January.

For someone who’s pursued a career in music since she was 16 years old, it’s no question why determination lives at the center of Caitlyn Smith’s debut studio album, Starfire.  

Since arriving in Nashville in 2010, Smith has dedicated herself to the craft of songwriting, silently scoring cuts from an array of high caliber names, ascending to the top of the pop charts with Meghan Trainor and John Legend’s “Like I’m Gonna Lose You” and grabbing the attention of Garth Brooks in 2016 with the powerfully quiet “Tacoma.” But like many of the unwavering artists that make their way to Music City, Smith’s undeniable gift has gone largely unnoticed in the world of mainstream country music, that is until she captivated fans and critics alike with the powerful Starfire in early 2018. The awe-inspiring project opens with the bluesy “Before You Called Me Baby,” and from the moment she hits that first note, you know there’s a quality about her. With each track that follows, she proves that point even further.  

It’s interesting how Smith coyly ties in the idea of imperfection into the album, singing proudly of her “crooked halo” on “Starfire”and comparing herself to a “sad Mona Lisa with a crooked frame” on “Before You Called Me Baby,” embracing her flaws and transforming them into compelling lyrics. After years of trying to beat down the door as a mainstream country artist with such lyrics, Smith is finally finding a natural home for herself in Americana. But those years of tireless rejection wore on the powerhouse singer, culminating in the album’s shining gem, “This Town is Killing Me.” The autobiographical story of a woman who’s screamed her lungs out, skipped her grandfather’s funeral for a one-off show, and spent years confessing her secrets in song is at the center of the hauntingly beautiful track. And while her passion may not have been enough for the industry that turned its back on her, Smith’s broken-hearted vocals and raw emotion is enough to bring tears to your eyes. Ironically, it’s one of the most vulnerable songs to come out of country music in 2018. 

She beautifully captures this sense of emptiness again on “House of Cards,” a stirring ballad for fragile hearts. Smith conveys the crippling thoughts that run through any dreamer’s mind who’s achingly striving for their aspirations, pleadingly singing “I need to cry but I’m afraid to cry ’cause I just might cry forever … I’m a dreamer, and what nobody knows, is deep in my soul, I’m scared half to death, there’s is a voice in my head, you’ve got to get better, it’s now or it’s never.”

To understand the true range of Smith’s artistry, let her draw you in with her understated rendition of “Tacoma” that incorporates a blend of passion, pain, and loneliness. Let her captivate you with the haunting “East Side Restaurant,” and then let her blow you away with the Motown inspired “Contact High,” where she sends us to the sky with her impeccable vocal runs.

For a voice that’s been suppressed for so many years, Smith doesn’t just deserve your attention with Starfire— she demands it.  

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