Camille Schmidt's new single, "Stanley," Turns a Passing Impression into a Thing that Feels Deep," with "XOXO," adds to the previews of her long-awaited debut album, which so far seems to offer incisive lyricism, left-field grooves, and a perspective that is both deeply personal and broadly expansive.
Built top, a jagged, off-kilter rhythm, and a hypnotic guitar riff, "Stanley" is an ode to how our imaginations spiral out of control when we receive even a little hint of someone else's narrative. Schmidt embraces the voyeuristic pleasures of assembling strangers' lives, scrambling their pieces into something deeply personal. "Stanley" rhythmic caprice reflects this mental disintegration, while the repeated line "Going nowhere" takes on an almost ironic heft as if, honestly, the options weren't infinite.
Schmidt's songwriting relies on specificity but doesn't exclude it. It opens its arms to bring you into her curiosity and introspective analysis maelstrom. There's a restive energy to "Stanley," a need to understand others to understand oneself better. The result? It's a track that feels intensely personal but still collectively relatable.
With her debut album fast approaching, Camille Schmidt reaffirms she's a storyteller who keeps an eye on one who conjures magic in the mundane and launders it into songs that linger long after the last note dies.