Art in its purest form. With a Country spark that is. Alex Smart, a new voice on the market all the way from Greenville, South Carolina, has illustriously put his talent and guitar to work thus conveying one of the most soulful expressions we’ve yet heard in 2021, Summer Rain. “What inspired me to write Summer Rain was my son. I found myself one night thinking about how it seems like just yesterday my wife and I were celebrating his first steps. And now he was starting elementary school. We live in a crazy world where there are so many things happening that it is easy to let the time we have slip through our fingers. I wanted to capture that feeling in this song and quite honestly use it to remind myself to truly be present in every moment because before I realize it, they will become just a memory,” got us crying Alex Smart. While the artist may have thought about his son, the four of us at Blue Rhymez Entertainment who’ve listened to the record at the same time, we all thought about different things. One of an ex, another of his mother, a third of his younger self, and the fourth got saddened by the realization he won’t be young forever (he’s 21 mind you).
The pleasantly soft layered guitars denote a human sensibility before Alex even started singing. It goes without saying, the production quality is of the highest from the getgo. “Here’s a photograph of my old team/ Little league days back in ’93/ We were short and we were fast/ Man this brings me back,” goes the voice of large-scale resonance. The narrative approach is based on the gradual increase over time of one’s key personal life events. Accordingly, the next recount involves what seems to be the first car Alex Smart drove back in the day: “Here’s one of me when I was 16 / King of the road happy and free/ Man I miss that Ride/ It’d been yours when you can drive.”
The pre-chorus is when the onion cutting begins: “My whole life I’ve been told/ The good times go by fast/ So you’d better hold on.” Even though we’ve collectively suffered from pandemic-related restrictions and seemed like life came to a halt for a good two years, it still hits differently when thinking that this too is rapidly turning into a memory.
The instruments are graciously unified by the Country singer’s warm yet grand tone on the chorus: “All of these days they go like summer rain/ Good times came and left like a school flame/ Even the bad times I miss somehow/ If I could go back, I’d like to know how to slow it down.” You’ll agree that Summer Rain is a very personal but no less heroic record on par with the biggest Country hits globally such as Morgan Wallen’s 7 Summers, Luke Combs’s Forever After All, or Thomas Rhett’s Die A Happy Man.
As the second verse comes along, Alex Smart explores the initial phases of the marriage’s romantic past with concentrated clarity, leaving the public feeling like enjoying a Parisian film in a drive-in cinema: “This is on the day that I met mom/ She had me a wreck, I couldn’t talk/ She had me weak in the knees I could hardly breathe/ Speaking ’bout some times about your mom/ I remember this our senior prom/ Your uncle Kevin spiked the punch/ Vowed we’d never give him up.” The pretty, simplified, sentimental lyrics enthrall the listener and build a strong connection based on transparency and seamless audio fidelity. This is marvelous stuff.
And at the bridge ladies and gents, is where Alex Smart shows off those pipes without flying off in the stratosphere. What do we mean by that? Some singers like vocal flexing too much and they forget the average person can’t hit those notes thus alienating the public from being able to follow along. So thank you Alex for being Smart. Pun intended. “I thought that it would last forever/ I thought I’d live forever young/ Now these memories they just haunt me/ Through all these pictures in this book,” follows the majestic bridge. Yup, we’re using a whole lot of positive attributes because independent artists that put in this much effort to offer this level of quality deserve all the praise in the world.
Song Credits: Alexander Smart (Alex Smart) – Singer, Songwriter; Ben Reno – Music Producer, Sound Engineer.
Alex Smart is rather quickly and evidently a Country artist of an undeniable high-class caliber that assures a perfect first impression with listeners of all ages. We invite you to peek behind the curtain in his mini-doc:
Make sure you do your part in supporting outstanding talent by streaming Summer Rain on YouTube Music HERE, Amazon Music HERE, Apple Music HERE, and on Spotify below:
Written by Mariana Berdianu
Blue Rhymez Entertainment ©2021
Blue Rhymez Entertainment 