Title: “Young Love”
Artist: Savannah Haim
Release Date: July 20, 2019
Recorded: Blackbird Studios, Nashville, TN
Genre(s): Country, Americana, Pop
Length: 59:30 (Standard Edition) 76:24 (Deluxe Edition)
Label: Southbound Records
Producer(s): Brandon Caulfield, Erich Hess, Karoliena Verlinden, Savannah Haim
“Young Love” is the debut album by American singer-songwriter 'Savannah Haim', set for release on July 20, 2019 through 'Southbound Records'. The record was produced by Savannah Haim alongside experienced musicians Brandon Caulfield, Erich Hess and Karoliena Verlinden. The album was recorded in a six month period at 'Blackbird Studios' in Nashville, Tennessee between September 2018 and March 2019, although the album was recorded in a stop-start fashion due to the fact that the majority of songs from the album were written and composed by Savannah in the studio during this time with fellow musicians and collaborators.
The album has so far spawned three hit singles in “Young Love” [#2], “Talk is Cheap” [#2] and “Smoke” [#1] with the first two launching the artist as a bona fide country star before the latter was rejected by CMA and it's country music outlets before becoming a mainstream number one single on the Weekly Airplay charts. Savannah didn't comment at the time other than tweeting, “Listen to Florida Georgia Line instead then.”. CMA received some backlash from this situation but refused to back down in their stance, although they did state that they were blacklisting the track not the artist.
The post-production on the album was completed in mid-April 2019 and the tracks have all since been performed live during the North American leg of the tour prior to the albums release. The track is set for release on July 20, 2019 through Southbound Records.
Background & RecordingA relatively unknown musician and songwriter to casual listeners, Savannah had a strong close group of musician friends that she had worked with over the years in the industry that helped out on the record and provided the majority of the instrumentation to the album as well as working on fleshing out the lyrics to her songs that have been described as often
”a little too wordy.” which helped Savannah discover how to say more with less.
She remained under the radar until October 2018 when she released her debut single “Young Love”, the first glimpse of what to expect from her music. The track blew-up on country radio and eventually found it's way to a mainstream audience, peaking at number two on the Weekly Airplay charts. Praised for it's dreamy nostalgic theme and seductive melody, it set Savannah on a path where everything she did was going to be scrutinised from her follow-up singles and future album to the blossoming public relationship with Brandon Caulfield which garnered some mainstream attention, not always positive as to be expected. But it was the charm and openness of Savannah's personality that helped put a quick dampener on the potential media fire that could have been following news of the relationship with a popular musician who lost his wife a little over a year earlier.
After navigating the potentially choppy waters of the media's attention, she followed up 'Young Love' in December with “Talk Is Cheap” which was an inspired choice given the timing of the release. The sudden attention on her relationship with Brandon was always going to be a tricky aspect to deal with for someone so new to the industry but she made a bold and defiant choice with the release of a song so clearly about their relationship and the potential outside interference it was always likely to receive,
“Talk is cheap when you've got nothing good to say/I never thought it would ever turn out this way/Can't you be happy when you see things work out/Maybe if you ain't got nothing good to say/Then you should shut your mouth.” it was another pace-setter for Savannah and another commercial and critical success. The track showed another dimension to Savannah that she wasn't all about heartfelt nostalgia but that she had a bit of an edge too her whenever the situation calls for it.
In January it was time for Savannah to step up her efforts in the studio and start to really make some progress on finishing the record, she decided to call upon 'Karoliena Verlinden' and 'Erich Hess' to help out with the latter stages of the album, with a handful of songs still needing to be written and recorded. She's described the recording sessions with Erich and Karoliena as the most freeing moments of the album and says that the songs they worked on together are the ones that bring the most fire,
“The stuff Brandon and the other guys worked on with me is where the heart is. But the stuff that I worked on with Kari and Erich brought the realness and the passion.”.
In February we saw the release of “Smoke”, the song that truly cemented Savannah's place in the music industry right now and sent anticipation for the studio album to the very next level. A song about passion and human instinct, the song that showcased Savannah's personality and built on the fire and the boldness of the previous single “Talk is Cheap.” It was sultry and straight to the point and showcased another side to the artist. Peaking at number one on the Airplay Charts, the track was rejected by all major country outlets despite a large portion of the music press praising it for it's outlaw country vibes and female empowerment. In the face of the track being rejected by the CMA the track gained more attention and instead became a major cross-over hit, pushing Savannah into the mainstream pop realm as well as the Country and Americana scene.
The recording of the album was finished at the end of March and post-production wrapped up in mid-April just in time for Savannah to head out on her first North American run of shows from May to June where she's played almost the entirety of the album each evening.
Tracklisting;01. “Plaid Shirt Days” (3:47)
02. “Smoke” (3:56)
03. “Long Gone In Our Hearts” (Feat. Brandon Caulfield) (4:03)
04. “Young Love” (4:36)
05. “Behind Closed Doors” (2:45)
06. “Skin Deep” (3:16)
07. “I'm Just Tryin' To Understand” (3:49)
08. “Roman Candle” (3:14)
09. “I Could Hold You Real Close” (feat. Dylan O'Connor) (2:57)
10. “Hummingbird” (4:06)
11. “A Place In This World” (4:38)
12. “Talk Is Cheap” (4:18)
13. “Brave Little Soldier” (4:27)
14. “American Masquerade” (Feat. Erich Hess) (4:35)
15. “Like You Do” (3:26)
16. “Cigarettes And Kerouac” (4:57)
Deluxe Edition;17. “Lord Above” (4:38)
18. “Love Hurts Like A Motherfucker” (3:39)
19. “You Don't Own Me” (Lesley Gore Cover) (2:47)
20. “How Does That Grab You, Darlin'?” (Nancy Sinatra Cover) (2:28)
21. “Downtown Train” (Tom Waits Cover) (4:02)
Singles;“Young Love” (October 14, 2018) #02
“Talk Is Cheap” (December 30, 2018) #02
“Smoke” (February 16, 2019) #01
"Cigarettes And Kerouac" (July 24, 2019) #01
Credits & Personnel;CREDITSProduced by Savannah Haim, Brandon Caulfield, Erich Hess & Karoliena Verlinden
Engineered by Frankie Dallas
Recorded at Blackbird Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Production Manager: Adeline Mulligan
Guitar Tech: Morgan Williamson
Instrumental Assistant: Lindsay Browning
Executive Producer: Brandon Caulfield & Adeline Mulligan
PERSONNELSavannah Haim: Vocals, Lyrics, Composition, Production
Avery Wyatt: Acoustic Guitar, Pedal Steel Guitar, Composition, Backing Vocals
Flynn McCarthy: Acoustic Guitar
Brandon Caulfield: Vocals, Lyrics, Composition, Production
Erich Hess: Guitar, Vocals, Production, Composition, Mixing
Dylan O'Connor: Vocals, Guitar
Karoliena Verlinden: Production, Mixing