“not with me” delights in showcasing Hampshire, England-based songwriter Sophia Casson-Smith pairing contemporary folk and Americana with banjo, acoustic guitar, and intimate vocals. Recorded in her home studio, the single marks a new chapter following years of electronic collaborations, transforming personal experience into a direct reflection on accountability, self-worth, and emotional release. George Mercer features on banjo, while mixing and mastering was done by Jose Cubides-Gutierrez.
A timeless-sounding folk guitar melds right away with Casson-Smith’s resonating lead presence, lamenting “never got the relief that I wanted, or the peace I craved.” The dual-layered acoustic presentation, showing both steady strums and plucky twangs, seamlessly flows as Casson-Smith traverses through self-blame, accountability, and perseverance across riveting thematic aims. “Not with me, not with you,” she continues during a captivating chorus, its “but with him” culmination being affecting in depicting a sense of moving on and traversing onto new truths and people.
The “wanted to lie through their smiles” line furthers that theme of past accountability and glaring suspicion, with “dead rats on their shoulder” continuing an odorous feeling of manipulation. The lyricism enthralls in recognizing past figures as a cause for personal wreckage; rather than placing the blame on oneself, there’s finally a reckoning for the role of others, beckoning “put that blame where it’s meant to be” within a spacious vocal delivery in the final minute. Sophia Casson-Smith and George Mercer fully impress with “not with me.”
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The track is also featured in the genre-based, best-of Spotify compilation Emerging Indie Folk.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
