Albums: Smithfield Country With Heart

Smithfield Country With Heart

Tracks: Part 1: Drink That Strong, Hell's A Heartbreak, Last Call Summer, Don't Know Myself, Overdoing Getting Over Me, Run With It, What I Got


Part 2: Tonight Talkin', Drunk Love You, All Over Nashville, Let You, Giving Up On Us, Alone in the City, God Given, Tell Me You Don't,

Label: Smithfield Inc.

There are some albums that feel like they have been a long time coming, and then there are albums that genuinely feel like they have been waiting for the right moment. For Smithfield, Country With Heart is very much the latter.

The long-awaited debut album from the Nashville duo finally brings together the eight tracks from 2024’s Country With Heart (Part One) with its newly completed Part Two, creating a fuller picture of Trey Smith and Jennifer Fielder’s musical partnership. Having recently returned from a UK tour that included appearances at Long Road and the British Country Music Festival, alongside a sold-out London headline show at St Pancras Old Church, it is increasingly obvious just how much affection there is for this pair.

And listening to Country With Heart in its entirety, it is easy to understand why.

Smithfield have always sat comfortably somewhere between contemporary country, pop and rock, but this record feels particularly assured in its country instincts. While Trey’s rockier sensibilities remain part of the equation, there is a greater emphasis here on Jennifer’s evident love for country music, and that balance gives the album much of its character. Most importantly, though, it is the chemistry between the two that makes these songs work. Their voices complement one another naturally, whether trading lines, locking into harmony or allowing one singer to take centre stage.

The real test for any album assembled in two chapters is whether the first half still feels relevant once the newer material arrives. Thankfully, Part One has aged remarkably well.

Tracks such as Drink That Strong, Hell’s a Heartbreak and Last Call Summer still sound fresh, while Run With It remains a welcome change of pace. There is an appealing confidence to the way Smithfield move between styles without ever losing their identity, shifting from bruised country heartbreak to glossy, upbeat country-pop with impressive ease.

But the emotional centre of Part One remains Don’t Know Myself. A sweeping, piano-led heartbreak song, it gives Smithfield the space to really showcase what makes their partnership special. The arrangement grows patiently before the chorus opens up, with their harmonies giving the song a sense of scale that feels almost cinematic. It is one of those tracks that seems destined to become bigger every time you hear it.

Part Two doesn't feel like an afterthought or a collection of leftovers. Instead, it completes the story and gives the album an extra sense of momentum. The newer material feels like a natural progression rather than a separate project, with Smithfield sounding comfortable in their own skin and increasingly willing to stretch the emotional and musical boundaries of their sound.

Let You is perhaps the clearest example. As the record ramps up, the track builds into something suitably epic, threatening at one point to claim the album's top spot outright. It has the scale and ambition of a genuine album centrepiece, demonstrating how effective Smithfield can be when they allow their melodies and harmonies to take up plenty of room.

Yet there are two newer contenders that ultimately make the race for the album's finest moment considerably harder to call.

God Given has a certain magic to it, while Drunk Love You possesses a mesmerising quality that makes repeated listens almost inevitable. Both tracks demonstrate how far Smithfield have come, marrying polished production with the emotional directness that has always been at the heart of their music.

Put alongside Don’t Know Myself, they form a particularly impressive trio — three very different songs that each capture Smithfield at their most compelling.

There is, however, one glaring omission.

For a debut that is so clearly intended to represent the journey Smithfield have taken, leaving If It Ain’t You behind feels like a strange decision. Older songs do not necessarily need to be included simply because fans love them, but this is a track that feels deserving of another moment in the spotlight. Its absence is perhaps the one thing that leaves you wondering what might have been had the duo revisited it for this collection.

That aside, Country With Heart is a remarkably cohesive debut. The two-part structure could easily have resulted in an album that felt disjointed, but instead the record benefits from hearing these songs together. What initially arrived as Part One now feels like the opening chapter of a much bigger story, with Part Two providing the missing pieces and, in several places, pushing the duo into exciting new territory.

There is plenty of heartbreak here, but there is also warmth, energy, nostalgia and an undeniable sense of connection. That last quality may be the most important of all. Smithfield are not simply two singers sharing a microphone; there is an ease and familiarity between Trey and Jennifer that comes from a friendship stretching back long before their musical career. It translates beautifully into their performances.

After more than a decade together and a journey that has taken them from Nashville stages to an increasingly passionate international audience, Country With Heart feels like the album Smithfield were always building towards.

It may have taken its time getting here, but the wait has been worth it.