CONNER SMITH FT, HAILEY WHITTERS - Roulette On The Heart - The Valory Music Co.

Attracting an exuberant, die-hard fan base through songs such as “Take It Slow,” “I Hate Alabama,” and “Learn From It,” Conner Smith laid the very sturdy foundations that began his trajectory to becoming one of country music’s hottest rising talents.

That incredible rise has resulted in the release of his debut full-length, Smoky Mountains, the breakthrough success of his multi-week #1, “Creek Will Rise,” “Meanwhile In Carolina” currently spinning in the Top 30 at SiriusXM’s The Highway, and an ACM Award nomination for New Male Artist of the Year. 

The brightly shining talent now teams up with Hailey Whitters, the reigning ACM Awards New Female Artist of the Year, on his brand-new single “Roulette On The Heart.”

The song, co-written by Smith, Jessi Alexander, Chase McGill, and Mark Trussell, drapes a slow waltz infused melody alongside Conner’s vocal as he moves it within the ebbs and flows of the verses, brilliantly holding the exhausted feel of the lyrics through his bends to add emphasis to the struggled emotional tug.

Metaphorically using the idea of a one chamber loaded gun toying a game of Russian Roulette, he comparatively dissects the toxicity of falling in and out with a heart damaged love interest, painting the picture of her up and down personality through descriptive lines, “eyes like an angel, heart like a thief,” “perfectly complicated,” etc.

Cleverly guiding the deeper truths that he knows he should run; the chorus then examines the pure conflictions of his heart:

“Are you tryin' to love me, are you tryin' to kill me
Every night with you is a shot in the dark
You touch me with a whisper, kiss me like a stranger
Holdin' somebody shouldn't be this hard
Oh and I know this game ends one of two ways
Are you gonna break me
Are you gonna save me
Lovin' you baby
Is roulette on the heart”

However, it’s Whitters precisely placed vocal into the first four lines of the final chorus that expertly shifts perspective to provide an unbridled showcase of understanding her own constructed walls and the want to let them down, though not being able to no matter how close she lets him get to her.

By allowing the emotions of both parties to highlight their frustrated honesty, “Roulette On The Heart” becomes a lyrical masterpiece that raises Conner Smith another level as he strikes radio with something that holds tremendous depth and will stand out as uniquely different from the onslaught of summertime anthems that are about to hit us.

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis/Album Artwork c/o The Valory Music Co.)

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