Cardiff newcomers Casual Smart declare heartwarming feelings on ‘She’s My Love’
Perhaps it’s a sign of me getting older and consequently, more self-conscious about my age, but quite often I’ll be presented with a song from an artist that sounds so mature and developed that it eventually comes as a shock to find out they’re barely out of their teens.
In the case of Cardiff newcomers Casual Smart, this isn’t a surprise that you’re dealt with on their latest single, ‘She’s My Love’, and the youthfulness of the five-piece is something that is paraded all over their identity as a group. You couldn’t possibly be in your mid-30s and writing a song like this, and fortunately for the band, that’s something that works in their favour.
The entire appeal of ‘She’s My Love’ is how delightfully naive it comes across on first listen, and while the emotional impact of the lyrics can still be felt, it chooses to deal with its subject matter in a way that feels direct and eager to share all rather than mulling it over with deep introspection. There’s an earnestness in vocalist Emily Beal’s delivery that many other young acts who get caught up in the notion of needing to use metaphors forget about, and to hear such a blunt declaration of something so tender is refreshing to hear from a young voice.
The way in which the piano, drums and saxophone all spring into action excitedly all adds to the rough and ready charm of the song, as though the song was written urgently as a means of getting a feeling out in the open for the world to see. No, not everything feels perfect, but perhaps the hasty journey from the bedroom in which it was written to the studio it was cut in is reflective of how desperately these words needed to be broadcast.
There are times where the direct nature of the lyrics such as “I’m her domain and I wouldn’t have it any other way / She’s a light and she’s my love” feel as though they’ve been plucked straight from a diary entry where you’re unafraid of stating exactly what you think, and the constant swooning over someone who you want to declare your feelings for eventually works its way into a song.
While that also adds an element of imperfection, with the lyrics having plenty of room to be tightened up, how better to share such feelings than to do it with the first words that spill out of you? Biding your time trying to find the right words to say to somebody can eat away at you, whereas if you pluck up the courage to say whatever is on your mind, the words might only use the most basic parts of your vocabulary, but they’re far easier to understand.
There’s a positivity to it that one might feel is absent from a lot of youth today; the state of the world leaves little to look forward to for the generation who are just about entering adulthood, but if they’re able to produce songs that are brimming with as much hope and positivity about the things that keep us going in life, then perhaps everything will turn out alright for them.
They may only have four singles to their name, but Casual Smart appear to have plenty more to offer in this vein, and with a little more growth, they’ll soon find themselves tapping into ideas with a refined sense of confidence.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out New Music Newsletter
All the latest New Music from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.