Artist : Caroline Spence Album : Mint Condition Year : 2019 Genre : Folk Source : CD Label : Rounder Records Catalog : 1166100576 Rls.Date : 2019-05-30 Bitrate : VBRkbps Size : 82.58MB ----- 1. What You Don't Know 3:52 2. Angels or Los Angeles 4:37 3. Song About a City 3:22 4. Sometimes a Woman Is an Island 4:13 5. Who's Gonna Make My Mistakes 2:36 6. Sit Here and Love Me 3:25 7. Long Haul 4:01 8. Wait on the Wine 4:20 9. Who Are You 3:12 10. Til You Find One 4:53 11. Mint Condition 4:02 ----- 42:33 ----- The third full-length from Caroline Spence, Mint Condition is an album narrated by people in various states of searching: alone on faraway highways, restless on rooftops in glamorous cities, stubbornly chasing their deepest dreams against all better judgment. With her poetic clarity and precision of detail, the Nashville-based singer/songwriter reveals the risk in setting out on an unconventional path, and subtly makes the case for living your own truth without compromise or fear. For Spence, the making of Mint Condition was an act of both self-reckoning and discovery. ôPeople tell you to write about what you know, but a lot of the time I write about what I donÆt know,ö she says. ôFor me songs are a way to ask questions, and sometimes you end up figuring out the answers.ö Despite some moments of self-doubt, Spence telegraphs a quiet self-assurance, a faith that sheÆll someday embody the essence of the albumÆs title phraseùsomething weathered and delicate yet miraculously intact. ôA lot of these songs come from a very tired-and-worn place,ö says Spence, lifting a phrase from the title track. ôThereÆs a sense of things not going my way and feeling rattled by that, but knowing deep down that itÆs all part of getting to where you need to be.ö Having won numerous songwriting awards from industry mainstays like the Kerrville Folk Festival, Spence has long been regarded as a best-kept secret in her scene, earning admiration from esteemed artists like Miranda Lambert and from her own fellow writers in the Nashville underground. Her debut for Rounder Records, Mint Condition follows Spades and Rosesùa 2017 release praised by American Songwriter as ôan album of stunning beauty and lasting impact.ö In bringing Mint Condition to life, Spence worked with producer Dan Knobler (Lake Street Dive, Erin Rae) and recorded at his Nashville studio Goosehead Palace, landing a guest appearance from Emmylou Harris and enlisting musicians from SpenceÆs previous projects and live band. ôItÆs wonderful to step into a room full of people who already know me,ö says Spence. ôThey have this unspoken understanding of my instincts, so it made the whole process really comfortable and collaborative.ö The kinetic energy of that collaboration infuses all of Mint Condition, an album centered on SpenceÆs crystalline vocals and finespun melodies that soar and drift and sometimes gallop. One of the most anthemic tracks on the record, the sharp-edged yet swinging ôLong Haulö delineates the many demands of the musicianÆs life, including the self-sabotage often required in sustaining passion (ôI keep breaking everything IÆm fixing, so I can be fixing to do it tomorrow nightö). ôThat song is equal parts pep talk and confession, where IÆm so determined to keep going with this way of life but IÆm also recognizing how insane that is,ö Spence notes. The sole co-written track on Mint Condition, ôSong About a City,ö written with Nashville artist Ashley Ray, illuminates the troubles brought on by a romantic temperament. ôAnytime I see a song with a city or a state in the title IÆm so drawn to itùI wish I could write a song about some great old town, but I always end up writing about relationships,ö she says. ôI think itÆs because thatÆs the thing I donÆt understand, the thing that makes me pick up the guitar every time: trying to figure out my place in the world with other people.ö On ôAngels or Los Angeles,ö meanwhile, Spence offers up a cinematic piece of storytelling. With several lyrics mined from church signs and freeway warnings from a solo trip to Joshua Tree, the slow-building story-song puts its own spin on the classic runaway narrative (ôItÆs like a line in someone elseÆs love song/Her life, like some cowboyÆs clichΘö). ôItÆs not necessarily my story, but itÆs not not my story,ö Spence points out. ôIn a way I think that can be said for the entire record.ö An especially personal song, ôSit Here and Love Meö elegantly uncovers the nuances of a very specific emotional experience. ôIÆm dating someone with an incredibly sunny disposition, and as a person who deals with depression and anxiety, IÆve had to explain all that to him while knowing he might never fully understand it,ö says Spence. ôThat song is my way of saying, æDonÆt worry, itÆs okayùyou donÆt have to try and fix anything for me. Just be exactly how you are.Æö With its graceful piano melodies, ôSit Here and Love Meö gently unfolds in flashes of wisdom and insight (ôPlease recognize my shadow/This is the same place from where I love you deeplyö). Mint Condition closes out with its breathtaking title track, a song with an enchanted history. ôI remember sitting on the floor of my bedroom in 2013, at a point when IÆd been writing a lot of woe-is-me breakup songs,ö Spence recalls. ôI gave myself a writing prompt that was something like, æLetÆs write the opposite of all that; letÆs think about the type of life youÆd like to look back on when youÆre older. LetÆs write something good enough for Emmylou Harris to sing.Æö Drawing inspiration from her grandmother, Spence then came up with ôMint Condition,ö a moment of beautifully bittersweet reflection. Through a few serendipitous twists and turns, Spence eventually recorded the song with Harris herself, their two distinctly textured voices blending to spellbinding effect. ôWe lost my grandmother recently, and it was really meaningful to me to have her hear that version with Emmylou singing,ö says Spence. ôEverything came full-circle in this amazing way.ö SpenceÆs affinity for Harris traces back to when her aunt worked at Asylum Records around the time that Harris recorded Wrecking Ballùan essential part of the soundtrack to SpenceÆs childhood. Born into an exceptionally music-loving family, the Charlottesville native started writing her own songs at age six and playing out in her hometown at 15. In 2015 she made her full-length debut with Somehow, a self-released effort featuring appearances by Anderson East, Erin Rae, and Andrew Combs (who later recorded one of SpenceÆs songs). With her debut winning the attention of Miranda Lambert (who posted about Somehow on her social media), Spence went on to deliver Spades and Roses and gain acclaim from outlets like NPR (who noted that the album ôoccupies that Nashville sound equally at home in honky-tonks and bedroomsö). In 2018ùafter working as a decidedly independent artist her whole careerùSpence shared the early mixes for Mint Condition with Rounder Records, and soon signed with the label. ôIt feels really natural to come to them with this record, which is such a complete expression of who I am,ö says Spence. Throughout Mint Condition, Spence shows the ever-expanding depth of her musicality, with the album encompassing everything from the full-tilt jangle-pop of ôWhat You DonÆt Knowö to the stark atmospherics of ôSometimes a Woman Is an Islandö to the ghostly folk of ôWho Are You.ö And on the heart-walloping ôWait on the Wine,ö her tender vocals take on an entirely new power. ôI wrote that one a few years ago, not ever thinking my voice could pull it off,ö says Spence. ôBut the voice is a muscle, and IÆve put this muscle to work singing all around the country. Now I have that confidence and strength to belt the way I donÆt think I could have when I was 23.ö For Spence, that growth comes not only from spending countless hours on the road, but from purposefully preserving her truest intentions as a musician and artist. ôAt the end of the day, songwriting is what matters most to me and brings me the most joy,ö she says. ôIÆve worked hard to try to keep that fire going, and to protect that thing that made me want to write in the first place. IÆm always just thinking about my 16-year-old self alone in the bedroom, because she knew what she was doing without anyone having to tell her. SheÆs the one who got me to where I am now.ö