HAVE A HEART
Singer-songwriter Meaghan Smith opens up about her latest recording 'Have a Heart'.
“I
hope people feel amazing when they listen to Have A Heart. I hope they love it.
I hope they find themselves in it. Music is about connecting, and I want to
connect with millions of people.”
Meaghan
Smith was coming off her 2011 Juno Award win for Best New Artist. It was for her critically acclaimed album The Cricket’s Orchestra, which had been
lauded for its honest, insightful songwriting and vintage sound. Despite all this, Meaghan wanted to take a
chance. She knew that she wanted to make an entirely different album; a pop
record with big choruses and ambitious production – it was the best way for her
to connect with more people than she ever had in the past. This meant moving
outside of her comfort zone and working with new collaborators on songwriting
and production. This was not going to be easy. Meaghan’s recent attempts at
working with co-writers hadn’t been productive, so she wasn’t optimistic that
someone else would be able to help her capture what was in her soul and turn it
into big, lush pop songs.
Even
with these concerns Meaghan knew she needed to try something new. Working with her musical partner and husband
Jason Mingo she spent months searching out different producers and co-writers,
trying to find just the right sound for the music she heard in her head. She travelled around the world, spending time
in London, Amsterdam and New York and LA. In London, she worked with Ash Howes
(Ellie Goulding, One Direction) to lay the foundation for three songs that
would eventually make the album, but she ultimately ended up in Toronto to
write and record the album with Jason Mingo and Warner Music Canada’s head of
A&R, Ron Lopata.
“I wasn’t sure about working with my husband
and an A&R guy. I have all the faith in the world in them both, but you
have to admit it's an unexpected team of collaborators, at least it was for me.
But it just worked so well. Both Ron and Mingo get me, as co-writers and as
producers,” says Meaghan. “They understand that I need to express my own deepest
feelings in my lyrics. Mingo brings patience and attention to detail to the
mix. He spent hours programming drums, creating vocal effects, editing tracks,
laying down guitar parts and other instrumentation. Together he and Ron came up
with amazing chords that I found inspiring and exciting to write on. Ron can
play anything on a keyboard and is a master of hooks. He is also incredibly
determined, not giving up on my ideas till we had found the exact sounds we
were looking for.”
As
she has in the past, Meaghan drew upon her own life experiences when writing
this album, with her relationships taking centre stage. The result is Have a Heart, an album full of honest, personal songs that sound
contemporary, yet retain a hint of Meaghan’s love of all things vintage.
Have a Heart maintains Meaghan’s
romanticism and envelops it in a unique pop production. One standout track, “Mirror” is a powerful
love song which speaks to the beauty that exists within us all, even when we
can’t see it ourselves. “I wrote that song in a night. I just started thinking
about all my friends who go through times when they honestly don’t know how
wonderful they are. I just think
everybody has those moments when they need to hear that they are amazing and
inspiring.”
For
many, the most noticeable change in Meaghan’s sound will be heard on the first
single. “Have a Heart” hits on a classic Meaghan Smith theme with the lyric
“Love can be sweet but it might fall apart, but you'll only feel the beat if
you have a heart.” Of the song, Meaghan
says “To me it means to be brave – to feel things. You’ll only be a part of life if you take
chances. Go for that thing that you really want. It’s terrifying, but that’s
how to live.”
That
sentiment is something Meaghan brought into her own life when making the album.
“Have a Heart is about taking a giant
risk. That’s what I’m doing with this album. It’s such a drastic change. My
heart beats faster every time I think about it, but that's how I know I'm
alive. Forget the net. Just jump and see what happens.”