By eMusic Editorial Staff, eMusic ContributorEvery year, hardcore music fans wrestle with the same wonderful problem: There are too many records. Even if we listened to nothing but new records, non-stop, the numbers just don't add up; we're going to… more »

By eMusic Editorial Staff, eMusic ContributorDo we even need the preamble? You know what next week is and, like any right-thinking person, you've probably put off working out a schedule until the very last second. So as you start to… more »

Samantha Crain

Photo: Harry Taylor

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Kid Face

Samantha Crain

2013 | Ramseur Records / The Orchard

By eMusic Editorial Staff, eMusic ContributorSinger-songwriter Samantha Crain has always sounded like an old soul, her dusty alto worn down by restless thoughts and free-floating anxiety. On the autobiographical Kid Face, the Oklahoma native sounds even more wizened as she explores loneliness, wanderlust and emotional disruption. Produced by John Vanderslice, Kid Face is a sparse record, laced with stark folk and Americana signifiers: acoustic guitar, wobbly piano, curled pedal steel and keening violin. Shambling banjo, stabs of synthesizer or electric guitar add occasional jolts of urgency to the mix.  Download: Samantha Crain, "Never Going Back" But significantly, Crain comes into her own as a lyricist on Kid Face. Besides being a meticulous wordsmith (“I’m going to shows, counting my toes and crying over you” is how she describes one particularly trying breakup), she offers thorough, unflinching self-analysis. Crain uses Kid Face‘s songs to examine her place in the world — and figure out how her actions affect others, for better and for… more »

By Stephen M. Deusner, eMusic ContributorSamantha Crain doesn't mess around in the studio. The Shawnee, Oklahoma, native recorded her previous album, 2010's breakout You (Understood), in just six days. For her latest, Kid Face, she spent a whopping seven days… more »

Lady Lamb the Beekeeper

By eMusic Editorial Staff, eMusic ContributorEvery week, eMusic's editorial team assembles a newsletter called The Crib Sheet, which features the five new records we think are essential listening. This is your chance to tell us what you think of the… more »

By Annie Zaleski, eMusic ContributorSinger-songwriter Samantha Crain has always sounded like an old soul, her dusty alto worn down by restless thoughts and free-floating anxiety. On the autobiographical Kid Face, the Oklahoma native sounds even more wizened as she… more »

By Laura Leebove, Deputy EditorIn "Blueprints," the second track on Samantha Crain's sophomore LP You (Understood), the Shawnee, Oklahoma, folk songwriter sings, "Into your eyes, I climbed/ I have no eyes of my own." In a way, it sums… more »

By Laura Leebove, Deputy EditorSamantha Crain's sophomore LP was supposed to be an alt-country record in the same vein as Songs In The Night, her full-length debut with her band the Midnight Shivers. But after the Shivers split, the… more »