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Blair Hansen sings sincerely of struggle, of hope, and sometimes of forlorn hope. Blair's 2nd full-length CD release Smile begins with two songs I remember from her 2004 South by Southwest performance, the suitably-titled opening Listen, and Road Song, a pensive but ultimately hopeful reflection on the human condition. But these songs, good as they are, are only a warm up for Dance My Way, the tune that wants to be the primary radio hit from this ample 12-song offering.

Stylistically, Blair is firmly ensconsed in the singer-songwriter school, her sweet, guitar-laden melodies filled with rewarding hooks and satisfying chord progressions. The wistful Who Is She expresses one of the saddest and most moving emotional conundrums I've heard all year: "Who she is is never clear, these feelings she can't dismiss, because every day, she feels the fear, that life won't get better than this." An emotionally ambiguous lyric, simple, yet powerful in its ability to isolate and express such universal doubt and hope.

Such lyrical ambiguity, which permeates the title track, Smile (and runs throughout Smile the CD), suggests the early chapters in a struggle to come to terms with life's bitter sweetness. Smile's imagery is strong, at times almost overwhelming the listener with the singer's ambivalence, first reinforcing and then counterbalancing its sweetly satisfying melody and vocal arrangement. Smile is probably meant to be the second hit single, and rightly so.

There is a lot to like about Smile. The arrangement of the tracks makes it a fun end-to-end listening experience. At the same time, there are four or five tracks that showcase Blair's unique vocal abilities and that can hold their own on a mix tape or play list or top 40 rotation. In fact, these songs are so consistently good that the artist's most difficult problem might be choosing which ones to promote.

--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 2005)

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From the liner notes:

Smile was produced by Clay Bigham.

Blair Hansen, vocals and acoustic guitar.

Also performing on Smile are Clay Bigham, Daren Wilkerson, Scotty-rock n' roll-Robertson, Eric Fortner, Rafael Herrera, George Chavez.

Blair Hansen

Smile (NON-SEASONAL)

Artist link

Track List