Album Review | ‘Secondhand Smoke’ by Sean McConnell
McConnell explores the depths of new love, heartbreak, and disappointment on his 2019 release.
Sean McConnell has quite a few credits under his name when it comes to songwriting. Having written for the likes of Little Big Town, Rascal Flatts, Drew Holcomb, The Brothers Osborne, and Tim McGraw (to name a few), it’s easy to see he has a knack for the country genre. This comes through brilliantly on his 2019 release Secondhand Smoke. McConnell not only wrote all the songs on this record but played every instrument as well.
He told The Shotgun Seat that composing this record himself allowed him more freedom to experiment:
“I had the time in my own studio to just do it all. This was definitely a year of growth for me as a musician. I felt an urge to do something different. I was excited to play instruments I normally don’t play and explore sonic landscapes that I normally don’t explore. I was passionate about the thought of creating it that way. There’s no staring at the clock, it’s a much more relaxed environment. I was allowed to be patient. I think because of that, sonically it’s a very different sounding record. There’s a lot of experimentation on there that I wouldn’t have time for otherwise. It was a very intoxicating process.” — Sean McConnell via The Shotgun Seat (2019)
“Secondhand Smoke” ripples in like an old memory. McConnell uses his wavy electric guitar to wisk you back with the nostalgia of the smell of cigarette smoke. There is a bittersweet fondness to these recollections, “I go right back riding shotgun in a gold sedan/ Nineteen eighty-something, me and my old man/ The crinkle of the cellophane/ The crackle of tobacco flame/ The stories that he told me as he held it in his hand.” This is further cut by the pain of years of regret on the father’s side and resentment on his. When the guitar begins to roar during the bridge, it feels like we’re finally allowed to release all our feelings that have been bottled up for so long.
The album swings in an indie-rock direction with “Here We Go.” Its misty vocal harmonies, joyous beat, and bright organ take me back to the earthier side of the genre back in the 2010s. Lyrically, Sean constantly pulls us towards this ever-present specter of danger that haunts our future plans, “There’s a rattle in the attic/ And a buzzing in my bones/ There’s a message in the static/ Ringing like a megaphone/ When I’m alone/ So here we go/ Seeing omens in the sky/ I’m hearing ghosts/ Telling me to read the signs.” I can see how the lightness of the song acts to lift us from these omens surrounding us, but it feels a bit cliche against this soundscape. A little more textural diversity would grant more depth to McConnell’s words.
Sean gives us a moment of reflection on the gospel-orient “Shaky Bridges.” The McCrary Sisters’ contribution bathes the rustic instrumentation with a warm, golden light. McConnell grants us peace for our misgivings and wisdom to remain just in our travels forward, “We’ve all done things we wish we never did/ God knows we will a thousand times again/ But we are a blade that is made strong by fire/ Every healer has been hurt, every honest man has lied.” The sisters’ backing is more like a choir of angels lifting up the voice of this tired man trying to do right in an apathetic world.
“Everything That’s Good” is an extremely tender moment outlined by delicately plucked guitar and trembling strings. The melody almost weeps at the presence of this unbridled affection. Sean’s words both ache and comfort. His sense of pride in his partner’s light is heartwarming to hear, “There’s a truth in our soul/ That we lose the more we know/ But you’ve always understood/ You are everything that’s good/ You are pure, you are true/ I wish I was more like you/ Honey, if I only could/ You are everything that’s good.” McConnell’s lyrics touched me personally, which is something special anytime a song can pull at my heartstrings.
“I Could Have Been an Angel” has a rich Americana sound underpinned by the subtle hum of the B3 that highlights the spiritual aspects of this track. McConnell takes a look at the other side of the coin (be it a from the Devil or a thief's perspective) as to how they got to where they are, “‘I was a baby, just like you/ I had a soul, shiny and new/ There was a ghost in my machine/ He got hungry and I got mean/ Lucky you, you got the halo/ You know I could have been the angel/ You could have the Devil.’” He tackles this subject matter rather cleverly, which is all lifted nicely by the soundscape arranged for this piece.
“Alien” stands out the most of all sonically. This psychedelic folk-rock sound is unlike anything else on the record. Painted in a creamsicle orange, McConnell uses this radiate glow to display this affection to this otherwordly woman, “So goodbye to everyone/ We’re going back to where my baby’s from/ When we get there I’ll be the alien/ I’ve finally found my girl/ She’s from another world.” This bright moment of elation will only make the fall in the record's second half more painful. Without some of the same textures in the prior track, I think this track would stick out far too much as an outlier.
McConnell juxtaposes the emotional turmoil of a relationship’s death with the hope of its return on “The Devil’s Ball.” The song is kept understated sonically, allowing for the guitar and cry of pedal steel to pull out the desperation from Sean’s words. He uses the metaphor of being sent to hell on its coldest day as an unfortunate sign of his partner’s return, “But I’ll be waiting where, the angels fell/ Cause you told me you love me, on a cold day in hell/ Well I’m there tonight, watching that snow fall/ Won’t you dance with me, at the devil’s ball.” Again, I am impressed by the way McConnell can poetically express these feelings.
“Rest My Head” adds a bit of grit to this bluesy tale of betrayal and going on the lam. There is a constant reverb placed on the backing guitar that hangs over us like an omen. This is compounded by the slightly gospel-grounded backing vocals at the latter half of the song. Sean’s words act as a cautionary tale to all those who look around the choices he’s made, “Tell my sister not to do the things I’ve done/ Tell my father he was right about his son/ And tell my brother not to take the path I tread/ ’Cause there ain’t no place that I can rest my head.” McConnell’s vocals espouse this sense of regret and bitterness to sell his imagery of becoming an outcast.
“Greetings from Niagara Falls” keeps things stripped down to allow McConnell’s longing to shine through. As a traveling musician, Sean finds solace in the little ways he and his partner connect (however briefly) while he is on tour, “Well tonight is, another one man show/ Another microphone/ One more vodka tonic in our room alone/ You call and say goodnight/ We both turn out the light/ The split screen of this movie isn’t easy, but it’s gonna be alright.” The synths and piano radiate warmth like a beacon in the night to signify his promise to return home to his partner.
“Another Song About a Broken Heart” sees us fighting the impending ending of our relationship. Sean utilizes the floaty textures of the synth, piano, and backing vocals to hang this moment of finality in the air before us. Despite attempting to dig his feet in to hold the cracks together, he can already see the writing on the wall: “Cause I know it all too well/ I have poured over the score/ How the minors hurt like hell/ How the majors make you sore/ Two people just trying to fix what’s broken/ Too lonely, too scared to speak the unspoken.” This feels even more tragic after his excited anticipation of seeing his lover in the prior track.
Sean employs the cool whisper of synths and grit of harmonica and guitar to display his agony over the notion of his relationship’s fragility in “I Don’t Want to Know.” His call for ignorance over potentially being led on crawls desperately at you in the song’s chorus, “Honey, hold on to me/ Never let go/ If this is a fantasy/ I don’t want to know.” At this point, McConnell is holding his ears, waiting for the other foot to drop. She’s halfway out the door, and he’s holding her coattails, trying one last time to keep the last of their love from evaporating.
We continue with the themes of heartbreak in “Say Goodbye.” The continuous tremble of the backing guitar holds us on the cusp of tears through the track’s entirety. This flares up as McConnell seeks any answer as to why things have come to this, “Tell me what I said/ If it’s someone else, tell me who/ Something that I did/ Something I couldn’t do/ Give me a reason, tell me a lie/ If you’re gonna say it/ Say goodbye.” The muffled effect on his vocals at this moment coats his frustration with the same stifled sob that haunts us from start to finish.
Sean ties up threads of a relationship burned out in “Wrong Side of Town.” It seems fitting to close with a piano ballad as Sean walks through the dilapidated cityscape of their once-flourishing relationship, “All the Chevrolet’s are up on blocks/ And missing all the tires/ Rusted, wrought on, graveyard parking lots/ Tennis shoes on telephone wires/ I bet this place had glory days/ But just look at it now/ We’re both thinking things that we can’t say/ On the wrong side of town.” You get hints of Springsteen and Bruce Hornsby through this piece's sullen, introspective tone. The album comes full circle on the same bittersweet note that it opened with.
I was delighted with the songwriting throughout this album. McConnell is a talented lyricist. Sean crafts this rise and fall pinpointed around a relationship's sudden birth and death nicely. His ability to convey pain, desperation, bliss, and disappointment is something that listeners will be able to connect with universally. My only hang-up comes with the lead single, “Here We Go,” which feels a little dated and cliche, sonically opposed to the rest of the work on this project. This has only made me more interested in what Sean has released prior to and after this album. I highly recommend you give this a spin if you are a singer/songwriter, Americana, or country music fan.
My overall thoughts on Secondhand Smoke:
Loved it: “Secondhand Smoke,” “Shaky Bridges” (feat. The McCrary Sisters), “Everything That’s Good,” “I Could Have Been an Angel,” “The Devil’s Ball,” “Rest My Head,” “I Don’t Want to Know” & “Wrong Side of Town”
Liked it: “Here We Go,” “Alien,” “Greetings from Niagara Falls,” “Another Song About a Broken Heart,” & “Say Goodbye.”
Disliked it: None
My overall rating: 8.5 out of 10.
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