VIDEO PREMIERE: Misner & Smith Tune-Up Hazy Roots Acoustic Colors On “Anthem”

After six years of tireless creativity and countless chances to rearrange and reshape these songs, West Coast folk duo Misner & Smith are finally ready to share this creation with the world. All Is Song is the brand new album from the band set to be released on April 12. This album has gone through as much life as the rest of us have over the past few years. Writing began right around the start of the pandemic with the shutdowns forcing their sessions to a screeching halt. This allowed the songs to mature and grow, they sound urgent yet relaxed. “Anthem” is the first single from the anticipated LP, a light-hearted anthem with colorful melodies that swirl around the room in a hazy psychedelic light show reminiscent of Nickel Creek. Poetic lyrics jump off the track and paint vivid images for a lead single that encompasses the many emotions of evolving as a person. 

All Is Song marks the first release since Misner & Smith’s 2017 LP Headwaters. The duo debuted in 2004 with the release of their Halfway Home LP. The two are not prolific, taking the quality over quantity approach to their catalog. It is rare when Misner & Smith rear their heads but when they do, it is always a cause for celebration. “Anthem” isn’t exactly a “party” track, but it is everything we could’ve hoped for in new Misner & Smith music. Brutally honest lyrics are set against an unpredictable arrangement for a new direction for the band that showcases their growth as musicians. 

“I’d been thinking about the concept of anthems, how they are almost always about stirring up a sense of nationalism or rallying behind a country or a team.” Explains Sam Misner, who wrote the lyrics for the single. “Then an image popped into my head of someone needing an anthem all their own. Not an anthem that anyone else would ever hear, perhaps, but a tune to rally oneself to face the world. A song in our head that could be called upon whenever we might need a lift or a helping hand. Not a brag or a boast, the way so many anthems can be, but a toast to friends, and to keeping going even through tribulation. An acceptance that there is very little we have control over in this life, but that we can still celebrate, we can reach inside ourselves and sing amidst the uncertainty.”

“Anthem” is just the start of All is Song, an album that promises nomadic anthems meant to be interpreted by an individual. All is Song is set to be released on April 12 and “Anthem” is here to guide you through the work. Songs are small moments you can carry with you, Misner & Smith captured so many emotions and moments in the album’s six-year creation process, All is Song is gearing up to be the best music of their career. 

Check out the premiere of the music video for “Anthem” below.