Artist : Caroline Spence
Album : Mint Condition
Year : 2019
Genre : Folk
Source : CD
Label : Rounder Records
Catalog : 1166100576
Rls.Date : 2019-05-30
Encoder : FLAC 1.3.1
Quality : 44.1kHz, 2 channels
Size : 272.6MB
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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
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42:33
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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