Back in 2023 we introduced Fort Worth, TX, singer-songwriter and musician Cameron Smith with single ‘Under the Cover of Darkness’, describing how an artist who cut his teeth in hardcore and post-punk pivoted towards folk rock for his solo work and drew on the shadowy depths of the southern gothic genre. “A song for the heartsick wanderer which can be traced back through Molina and van Zandt,” we wrote of the single, “where the long night is illuminated only by the blood moon and low fuel light on the dash. But through its melancholic haze rises an impassioned chorus, doubling down on the will to eventually make it home.”
Now Smith is preparing to release Gold & Rust, the debut full-length of his new project Cameron Smith & The Slings which builds upon the earlier foundations, again embracing the drama and tropes of the country genre but with a newfound narrative focus. Terry Allen’s Juarez, Lee Hazlewood’s Trouble is a Lonesome Town and Willie Nelson’s Red Headed Stranger are cited as direct influences, and even some of the daring, cosmic spirit of The Dark Side of the Moon makes its way in too. A concept album centring on the classic archetype of the wanderer, following its protagonist through all his loves, losses and longings towards ultimate redemption.
Featuring guest vocals from Presley Haile, lead single ‘The Way Life Ought to Be’ not only establishes the tone of the release but serves as a microcosm of its main themes. A duet weighed down by addiction and regrets yet pressing forward all the same, loaded with the understanding that forgiveness and the hope which comes with it can only be achieved via a painful reckoning with both the past and the present.
Watch the video below, with photography, direction and video edit by Waffles and compilation and format edit by Metachronism:
Gold & Rust will be released later this year.