Escape With John Smith Into The Ethereal Welsh Countryside I

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Escape With John Smith Into The Ethereal Welsh Countryside In His New Video For “Hold On”
Directed by Chris "MUG5" Maguire and Nastassja Simone with riot.nyc; “Hold On” can be found on Smith’s new album, The Fray, out now

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Amongst a series of gorgeously framed shots of a foggy Welsh countryside, singer, songwriter, and revered guitarist John Smith materializes into view just in time to sing the first lines of his song “Hold On.” Directed by Chris "MUG5" Maguire and Nastassja Simone—with Richard Shelton at the helm as Director of Photography—the video was dreamt up as an ode to “Hiraeth,” a Welsh word without a direct English translation. The University of Wales, Lampeter likens it to “a homesickness tinged with grief and sadness over the lost or departed”—an unparalleled companion to Smith’s words and music. “Their concept of an ode to ‘Hiraeth’ married perfectly with the message of the song,” he says of the video team from riot.nyc. “I was delighted to get out into the peaks of North Wales for the day. Late in the afternoon, the mist crept over the mountaintop, enshrouding us completely; it was as though Mother Nature herself had decided to direct the shoot."

Fans can follow this link to see the full video for “Hold On,” a song which Under The Radar called “an unrelentingly warm and uplifting ballad, one that was as healing for Smith to write as it is to take in as a listener” from a record that The Bluegrass Situation applauded as “an album of searing honesty and lithe beauty whose songs amplify the emotions and experiences of so many of us this year—the reassessed relationships, the self-reflection, and the ultimate search for hope.”

A drove of critics went on to also praise the instrumentation and production of The Fray. No Depression called Smith’s work “a meticulously constructed album that expresses its sadness but doesn’t get bogged down in it”; Fretboard Journal exclaimed “beautiful, introspective and loaded with great guitar tones”; and Associated Press wrote “There’s a comforting sway to the album’s melodic folk-pop, built on Smith’s subtle guitar work...12 tunes of resilience, devotion and hope, with determination in the lyrics and buoyancy in the music.” Fans can follow this link to purchase or stream The Fray in its entirety now.

Smith co-produced The Fray with long-time friend and producer Sam Lakeman at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studio. Calling on an all-star band—pianist Jason Rebello (Sting, John Mayer), bass player Ben Nicholls (Seth Lakeman, Nadine Shah), Drummer Jay Sikora (Paolo Nutini) and Jessica Staveley-Taylor of The Staves—Lakeman and Smith honed an honest sound not unfamiliar to existing fans; a focus on the songs as well as the beautiful way in which Smith picks and plucks them. Not allowing a global pandemic to prohibit collaboration, Smith’s guests on the album recorded remotely and sent their contributions digitally over international borders—Sarah Jarosz, Courtney Hartman, The Milk Carton Kids, and Bill Frisell from the Americas and Smith’s frequent touring partner Lisa Hannigan via a virtual studio session in Dublin.

Throughout The Fray, Smith touches on not just his own emotional turmoil experienced over the past year, but also his observance of the pain of those around him. But it’s Smith’s stubborn optimism that shines through and differentiates his experiences and songs from his influences and contemporaries, which PopMatters and Americana Highways recently touched on, the latter highlighting his “excellent, consistent songwriting.” His traits of holding onto hope, forgiving transgressions, and reckoning with his place in a world which doesn’t always reciprocate are not only necessary for Smith to deal, they’re contagious to anyone who finds themselves in similar situations, adrift in the wind. Atwood Magazine commented, “Pain, loss, isolation, sadness—these are all a part of life, and they will knock us down. Smith's music reminds us that we will rise again, stronger than before.” For those who echo that sentiment, from experience, Smith shares his message on The Fray; “If we don’t hold on, we’re lost.”

More About John Smith: Smith was born in Essex and raised on the Devon seaside. Known for his intimate songwriting, his honey-on-gravel voice, and pioneering guitar playing, he has spent the last fifteen years touring internationally and has amassed over 40 million streams on Spotify. As a session musician, he has played guitar with artists as diverse as Joan Baez, David Gray, Joe Henry, Lianne La Havas, and Tom Jones.

The Fray Tracklisting:
1. Friends
2. Hold On
3. Sanctuary
4. Deserving
5. The Best Of Me (feat. Bill Frisell)
6. Star-Crossed Lovers (feat Lisa Hannigan)
7. To The Shore
8. Eye To Eye (feat Sarah Jarosz)
9. Just As You Are
10. The Fray (feat. The Milk Carton Kids)
11. She's Doing Fine
12. One Day At A Time