It is a necessary fact of music-industrial life that the conditions under which music is created are often different from the reality in which it is consumed.
Christmas songs, for example, are often written in the spring or summer and often recorded when Nashville temperatures are still in the 80s or 90s. Likewise, artists typically develop future singles when their current releases are just starting to ramp up, and many of their projections about follow-up material are educated guesses about how already finished songs might perform.
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In that spirit, Nate Smith's new single – “Fix What You Didn't Break,” released by RCA Nashville to country radio via PlayMPE on October 28 – is an example of strong artistic instinct. It's a power ballad, fueled by crisp chords and Smith's trademark, albeit somewhat of a departure. His first three singles — “Whiskey On You,” “World On Fire” and “Bulletproof,” each of which reached the Top 5 on Country Airplay — all incorporated that strain into defiant post-breakup anthems. “Fix What You Didn't Break” revises the message, embracing a plot that celebrates a woman changing the perspective of a previously defeated romantic partner. It's not exactly the formula Smith has used so far, and he's well aware of it.
“It's kind of scary when you put your first kind of ballad out there,” he says. “But I really like this song.”
Comprehensibly. Smith was a teenager in the late 1990s and early 2000s when pop/rock radio was blasting Lifehouse's “You and Me,” 3 Doors Down's “Here Without You,” “I Don't Want To Miss A Thing” and Aerosmith's Goo Goo Dolls. “Iris” RIAA Diamond Certified. This sonic strain is part of Smith's musical DNA and provides permission to explore the emotions surrounding successful relationships.
“Children,” he says, “are more sensitive than we think.”
Smith's musical identity was still being forged for the public when he wrote “Fix” on July 11, 2023, at the studio home of producer Lindsay Rimes (LOCASH, Tyler Rich). They were joined by songwriters Ashley Gorley (“I Am Not Okay”, “Truck Bed”) and Taylor Phillips (“I Am Not Okay”, “Hurricane”) – the same team that wrote “World On Fire”, the which was only in its fourth week in the charts at the time en route to becoming Smith's second No.1. They already had a feeling that Smith should consider changing things up with his future radio releases.
“Our goal,” says Gorley, “is not just to try to get them a song, but to have a hand in what they should do next or what we think we'd like to hear from them personally next. This kind of checked all those boxes.”
Phillips submitted the title – “He's always got the headlines … it's one of his expected roles,” says Gorley – and it didn't take long to realize it fit a story about a woman who served as something of a savior for a guy. which was lost. Rimes belted out some chords on the electric guitar that gave her some testosterone.
“Lindsay, she always has that electric that's so loud the neighbors can hear it,” quips Phillips.
The opening lines came early: “I was a 10-year-old train wreck/ With a long, last-call neck.” They caught a man numbing his pain with alcohol, and Smith says they were based on a past relationship he hasn't talked about much publicly. “I was 10 years into my divorce and everything before that when I left Nashville the first time,” she notes. “He gave a little nod to it.”
They mapped out the tune, still applying an anthemic attitude to “Fix,” even though it was a love song. A particularly attractive melodic section, with short phrases and distinct but modest intervals, emerged during the work, although it was not immediately obvious how to use it.
“We all dug the melody and the vibe of that part, and we were just trying to figure out where to put it,” Rimes recalls. “At the time, we might have thought it could be a verse, but it felt right as a pre-chorus.”
This pre-chorus was a perfect puzzle piece, reaching from the opening verse to the first chorus. The lyrics themselves had their own forward movement thematically. While the opening verse established the singer's sadness, the second verse focused on the woman, who saw him as a savior and took steps to revive his spirit, answering his prayers and picking up “the towel I threw in.”
“One of my favorite lines – and I'm sure Taylor had something to do with it – is 'He showed me the past ain't no tattoo/ I loved me even when I didn't have to,'” Gourley says. “This is like a spiritual moment to say, 'Hey, you don't need to be known for your past. They are not with you forever. I'll change it.” That really fits the theme.”
To close it out, they reused the pre-chorus as a bridge, figuring the tune was so good it needed to be heard again.
“I don't like to do a lot of pre-peats – that's what I call them when you repeat the pre-chorus – but in this situation, what can you say that's better than that?” says Phillips. “The melody was so hectic and gave the song a second to breathe again before the final chorus.”
Rhimes built the demo as the writing progressed, adding programmed drums and bass around his guitar parts. When they thought they were done writing, Gourley did a scratch vocal, just to see if any problems popped up. Once wrapped, Smith sang the actual demo vocal, adding his rap in all the right places.
“Fix What You Didn't Break” languished for months, but Rimes released it this summer during a track at Nashville's Blackbird Studios with a five-piece band: drummer Evan Hutchings, bassist Mark Hill, guitarist Derek Wells, keyboardist Alex Wright. and steel guitarist Justin Schipper. They found themselves with extra time at the end of the booking, and Rhimes thought that backing up Smith's vocal demo with a real band would sell it better to the group.
“I personally felt like the song wasn't getting as much love as I felt it deserved and wasn't finished,” says Rimes. “We were all focused on finishing the album, cutting songs and hearing new songs and stuff. I wanted to cut a band on this song because I feel like it's a huge hit.”
Sol Philcox-Littlefield came in later to drop a powerful but simple guitar solo, and Smith spent hours finding places to add backing vocals.
There were other single options, but many radio stations asked RCA to accommodate it, presenting Smith in a slightly different light. It debuted on the Country Airplay chart dated November 23, reminding listeners that the right situation can help overcome past difficulties.
“I feel like a good relationship reveals that,” Smith says, “but it also gives you the freedom to grow and the grace to forgive and understand that you're going through this thing, slowly getting better.”
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/country/nate-smith-fix-what-you-didnt-break-makin-tracks-1235833024/
