Lauren Spencer Smith: 5 songs that changed my life
The pop star breaks down her love of sad songs and JP Saxe
Lauren Spencer Smith has only been releasing music for four years, but the Vancouver pop artist has achieved a lot in such a short amount of time.
Smith first rose to prominence competing on the 18th season of American Idol, with judge Lionel Richie describing the then 16-year-old's voice as "wise and gifted well beyond your age." And while she did not advance past the top 20, Smith's career truly took off after the show: She has amassed six million followers on TikTok and more than eight million monthly listeners on Spotify (her single "Fingers Crossed" has over 345 million spins), and has now earned three Juno Award nominations, including artist of the year and TikTok Juno Fan Choice at this year's ceremony.
But there's still one major feat Smith has yet to achieve: releasing a full-length album. "All my comments are like, 'Where is the damn album?,'" Smith tells CBC Music, explaining that her devoted fans have grown a little impatient with the rising star. But that wait is finally over today with the release of Mirror, Smith's 15-track debut, which features hits like "Fingers Crossed," "Flowers" and her Gayle and Em Beihold collaboration, "Fantasy."
"I'm most looking forward to just having the songs out to everyone; like, some of these songs were written almost three years ago," she says. "I've changed the productions, there's so many different versions…. they mean a lot to me, personally, and I wrote [these songs] when I was in a completely different part of my life."
Ahead of her album's release, CBC Music spoke to Lauren Spencer Smith about five songs that changed her life, many of which have influenced her style of songwriting. Some have even had a direct impact on the songs featured on Mirror. For example, JP Saxe's "Same Room" is one of two tracks by the Toronto songwriter that Smith says were life-changing. "It's the reason I wrote 'Flowers,'" she reveals. "There was a lot of thought that went into the metaphors in that song, [and] that was totally because of what [Saxe] says in 'Same Room.'"
Hit play on the video above to discover all five songs that changed Lauren Spencer Smith's life.