Sony Music Entertainment
Release Date: April 5th 2024 / May 16th 2024
Reviewed by: Joshua Andre
Nate Smith– Through The Smoke / Bulletproof (feat. Avril Lavigne) (Single) (Amazon mp3/iTunes) (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- Bulletproof
- Wish I Never Felt
- Rather Be Lonely
- Here’s To Hometowns
- Make It With You (feat. The War And Treaty)
- Hollywood
- Heart-Shaped Box
- Bulletproof (feat. Avril Lavigne)
In 2021, I wrote a pretty negative review of Mitchell Tenpenny’s Christmas album Naughty List. At the time, I hadn’t heard a single thing about Mitchell and his music. I had first heard about him when his video for “Bucket List” surfaced online one day on my YouTube home page. I was… well I wasn’t transfixed or that captivated, but it was ok-ish. A song that actually would fit right at home on K-Love or any other Christian radio station, that speaks about how we should always strive to do what we want to do today instead of some far off distant date in the future which may or may not come, that ‘…I’ma love a little more, dream a little deeper, leave all the leavers, keep all the keepers, find peace of mind in the time the good Lord gives, I’ma cross one off, put two more on it, say, “I love you” ‘fore the moment’s gone, and never have to ask myself, “What if”, when I get to the bottom of my bucket list…’. And the fact that this radio friendly song would sound right at home on a CCM radio station, is in part due to the fact that Mitchell has a vocal eerily similar to CCM artist Micah Tyler, and also reminds me vocally of Danny Gokey, JJ Weeks, Dave from Sidewalk Prophets, and Bart from MercyMe. Despite being a country singer (who hasn’t really dominated that much on the country charts until around about… now?) it seemed to me that Mitchell didn’t really have the presence of a country star and does actually sound like a CCM singer. In essence, I concluded that Naughty List was just… there. Not a good album, but an album fit for background music. Mitchell is a country star on the rise though, and I’m sure he will dominate in the upcoming months and years. Fast forward to now, and Mitchell recently released his latest full length album This Is The Heavy in 2022. We hadn’t had a chance to review this project until sometime in 2023; however we did voice our thoughts and opinions on Mitchell’s 2022 EP The Low Light Sessions.
To be honest, I wasn’t going to listen to this 2022 project. I had decided that Mitchell wasn’t a ground-breaking country artist. But “Horseshoes And Hand Grenades” is such a powerful and catchy opener… and so I had to listen, and give my thoughts. You can read my entire review here; but the essence was that The Low Light Sessions is a superb EP that delivers on all accounts- musically, thematically, lyrically and vocally. Country albums are supposed to inspire, move, comfort, impact and encourage. This one inspires a lot, unlike Mitchell’s Christmas album. There are plenty of gems here (maybe aside from “My Next Sad Song”)… and now I have high hopes for This Is The Heavy. And so… This Is The Heavy fell flat, and I was accepting of the fact that Mitchell would just be another country artist who is just… okay. Writing okay songs with okay lyrics that just hit me in an okay way. And while there is nothing new from Mitchell right now; the debut country album from Nate Smith (reviewed here!)– standing tall at a whopping 26 tracks (why do artists insist on releasing more and more songs per album? Why not 13-14 and that’s it?), is almost like this is Mitchell 2.0, or Mitchell 0.5…
Nate Smith was a virtual unknown for me not too long ago. I decided to listen to his album because I figured ‘there’s 26 tracks, surely one will stick out and resonate with me!’, and I thought that maybe such a big guy will have a commanding voice like Mark Hall (Casting Crowns), Bart Millard (MercyMe) or Danny Gokey. Or even if he had a big country voice like Mitchell Tenpenny; I figured that at least a few of his 26 songs (again, why too many songs on a debut album?) would resonate in terms of lyrics, and maybe I’d find a male solo new artist who will be a star in the making. Well the jury is in, and after listening to Nate Smith for the better part of a few hours now… can I say that it’s instantly forgettable and I can’t name any of the songs that stand out, nor what the songs are about.
If you want to read more about Nate’s debut album which didn’t wow me at all, then check out our ‘review’ here. But now that Nate has dropped his latest EP Through The Smoke, I kinda wanted to see if this release is worth the listen, after that sorry train-wreck of an album. and now that I’ve listened to these 7 new tracks a bit… can I just say that these types of melodies (rock/country songs ala Hardy and Nickelback) are definitely in Nate’s sweet spot? This EP isn’t the greatest. But it’s certainly a step up from the 26 song debut shocker that I won’t mention ever again, and that is something definitely worth mentioning.
“Bulletproof” is your typical country/rock fanfare with Nate channelling his inner Mitchell Tenpenny meets Nickelback, as he speaks about how every time he drinks, he numbs the pain of his ex but still can’t forget them. This track is perfect as a duet (as Avril Lavigne and Nate proved in the smash hit re-recording as a single!), and this song gets us in the partying mood; while the heartbreaking ballad “Wish I Never Felt” speaks about Nate’s admission of wanting to erase the past with his ex because he is now feelings things he wish he never felt (feelings of heartbreak and hopelessness). “Rather Be Lonely” is a self-loathing and deprecating pop/rock track about Nate wanting to be lonely instead of still feeling raw emotions and love for his ex; while the most emotional and personal song on the EP is the ballad “Here’s To Hometowns”, an ode to small towns and a homage to Nate’s roots and where he lives, as he unequivocally declares ‘…here’s to them two-lane roads, tracin’ them county lines, here’s to them fourth and goals boys of fall on Friday nights, here’s to the way we talk, here’s to remember when, here’s to your favorite country song on the truck FM, here’s to that first kiss taste of strawberry wine, here’s to them good ol’ days, born and raised way of life, without them middle of nowheres, who knows where we’d be now, here’s to that holy ground, here’s to hometowns…’. “Make It With You”, as radio friendly as it is, is still sweet and charming, as Nate outlines along with guest vocalists The War And Treaty that he wants to ‘make it’ and last the distance with his current partner, a sentiment that one should be extremely proud of if carried out; while the vulnerable and reflective melody “Hollywood” delves deep into the price of fame and the vices that are presented to everyone while packaged as nice and beautiful- with Nate concluding that the ‘drugs’ in Hollywood doesn’t get him as high as the love he has for his partner. Through The Smoke then ends with the Nirvana rock cover “Heart Shaped Box”, a song that I’m not familiar with (as I do not really listen to Nirvana at all!), but one that Nate really makes his own.
Nate Smith is indeed a country star on the rise- I’ve mentioned this already. Like with Mitchell Tenpenny, Nate is also an artist that I’m positive will dominate in the upcoming months and years. Nate Smith the album was incredibly underwhelming… some individual songs (like the ones aforementioned, are good, but there are too many mediocre songs, and when it’s the same or similar song structure and music, the album can drag a bit. Maybe I’m not a fan of bro-country or boyfriend-country. But… shudder to think, you may love this album. Then… more power to you! As a debut album, I reckon 26 songs is too long. Yet with this 7 track EP, and Nate expanding his genre to be more ‘rock’… well, this isn’t a slum dunk. But it’s not a complete let down either. Is 7 songs the sweet spot for Nate? Maybe it’s 12-13-14 songs? Sure long albums are objectively good- there’s songs that weren’t released from the pandemic that are being released now in a big clump. But when almost every album is long, the uniqueness and novelty wears off. As for this EP, shall we listen to it all and dream about what could’ve been (as in a further 4-5 songs to make this album just ‘pop’ a bit more? For the previous album, shall we sit through Nate Smith or cherry pick the songs we like? Either is ok, but I know which option I’ll be picking! As for “Bulletproof” with Avril… well, that’s a jam, no matter which way you slice it!
3 songs to listen to: Bulletproof, Here’s To Hometowns, Hollywood
Score: 3.5/5 (Through The Smoke), 4.5/5 (“Bulletproof” with Avril Lavigne)
RIYL: Danny Gokey, Mitchell Tenpenny, Russell Dickerson, Micah Tyler, Chris Young, Morgan Wallen, Cody Johnson, HARDY, Nickelback