Check out ‘The World Turns’, the gorgeous single from John Smith and his first new material since the 2021 album ‘The Fray’. Artfully but simply shot, the video encourages us to focus on the quality of Smith’s seemingly effortless vocal delivery and impressive musicianship. His voice is distinctively warm, drawing us into his romantic lyricism. Towards the end of the song, Smith’s fingers float around the fretboard as he performs an outstanding guitar solo that grows from the song’s melodic foundation. Throughout, sustained electric bass and sweeping, soaring swells of eBow reinforce the song’s mood and create beautiful sonic textures that you’ll keep returning to as a listener.
Written back in January 2022, Smith says of the song: “I wrote this with the great Iain Archer, after playing him a riff on my steel telecaster and talking for a couple of hours about how we both felt in the wake of a difficult couple of years. This is a song about holding tight as the world carries on, unflinching. Some days it seems that life is carrying on about its immense business and there is nothing any of us can do. I do believe that if you can find something or someone good to hold on to, it becomes almost possible to stay balanced.”
Over the years, the British singer-songwriter, once dubbed the, “…future of folk,” by John Renbourn, has opened for the likes of Iron and Wine and Patty Griffin and, thanks to his masterful guitar skills, he has guested for Roseanne Cash, Richard Hawley, Jerry Douglas, Glen Hansard and Rodney Crowell. Smith has just announced a UK tour in the spring of 2024, including a headline show at Union Chapel – get your tickets here.
