As we did with “Something Happened” and “Respirator“, we’re happy to premiere the latest single from Smart Objects, entitled “Lighten Up.”
The song hits with bright production, unique guitar tones and layers upon layers of things to hear. So many great flourishes are nestled throughout the track that repeated listens are a highly rewarded activity. There’s even a little Charlie Brown-esque piano line buried in there.. see if you can hear it. Smart Objects has always had a penchant for delivering a big rock song that is sneakily nuanced; a skill that is on full display with “Lighten Up.”
Lyrically, the track is infectiously memorable but tackling some real legit interpersonal issues. Songwriter Ben Harper reports, “It’s about dealing with difficult people, but also about how I wish I would lighten up and take life a little less seriously. I’ve dealt with people in life (and in bands) that seem to always be looking for the next conflict or the next thing to be offended by. … It’s hard not to get dragged under the mire that that person is basking in. I think people become addicted to their identity as someone who suffers, and become addicted to that strife and subsequent righteous indignation. I wrote ‘Lighten Up’ mostly about someone I used to work with. Kind of like a plea to drop the unnecessary turmoil. But it also made me more aware of that phenomenon in myself. So it’s also a plea to myself to do the same.”
That may not sound like a topic for an infectiously memorable rock song but it definitely works. That’s three new singles in just a short span of time but we’re told there’s one more on the way before the end of the year. We’ll be here for it.