Smokin’ and drinkin’ ’til the break ends, like we did back in the day…
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[6.25]
Patrick St. Michel: Less a short story and more like a pat on the back, “Smoke Break” is a nice reminder that nobody needs to be perfect, and everyone should tune out sometimes. It gets close to being a little too dramatic, but then again, simply kicking back for a drink or a smoke can be worth a celebration after the working day.
[7]
Alfred Soto: Something sounds louche: the serrated vocal and smeared instruments don’t mix, as if an engineer didn’t bother syncing them. Also, Carrie Underwood is the least likely person to consider a smoke break.
[5]
Thomas Inskeep: Kind of a new-gen country “She Works Hard for the Money,” only the first verse is about a woman and the second is about a man. The arrangement is appealingly twangy, there’s a short guitar solo and her voice is as strong as ever. The song, about needing a break from the strains and storms of life, is fine, and as has often been the case in her career, Carrie sells the hell out of it.
[7]
Brad Shoup: The first thing I thought of was Stephanie McCrummen’s recent Washington Post profile of the family who hosted Dylann Roof in their trailer until the day he murdered nine black Charlestonians. There’s an accompanying photo of the mother crouched behind the Waffle House she works at, checking Facebook on her phone, smoking a cigarette. There’s nothing in the profile about the family’s religious affiliation, but I can’t imagine she wouldn’t take solace in “Smoke Break.” It’s a sympathetic portrait of small-time hypocrisy earned through Circumstances. “I don’t drink, but sometimes I need a stiff drink,” admits Underwood — it clunks on the stereo, but it’s absolutely been said. It’s tough to flatter and pity at once, but Underwood pulls it off, assisted by the anthemic arrangement (existential guitar, noble organ). There’s no pride in her vice, but there’s not a whole lot of relief, either.
[7]
Josh Love: The song’s idea of vice may seem exceedingly innocuous to most, but I appreciate Underwood’s willingness to offer succor to a specific slice of audience that perhaps often feels stuck between being bombarded by hedonism or pandered to by extreme piety. This isn’t the de facto country audience either, because there’s plenty of genuine hell-raising going on in that genre too. Most pop culture treats self-indulgence as a birthright. More power to it, but the way “Smoke Break” treats it as something earned is no less refreshing than “sipping from a high, full glass.”
[6]
Anthony Easton: Unlike “Something in The Water,” or some of her more melodramatic works, this song would benefit from an intimate under-singing, and I wonder if Underwood would be able to achieve it.
[4]
Crystal Leww: If you had asked me five years ago who I thought the most successful and enduring American Idol contestant would be, I would have answered with Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and maybe Chris Daughtry. Half a decade has passed, and Carrie Underwood reigns supreme. As my colleagues at Grooves ‘N Jams noted a couple weeks ago, Carrie Underwood has made a career in country music, a genre about small moments, singing and embodying bigness. Her big voice, her life-or-death subject matter, her commitment are all about being big. Given her start on American Idol, it makes sense — a televised singing competition is all about having the big moments and doesn’t allow any weeks for subtle songs. It’d be pretty impossible to conceive a world where Kacey Musgraves or, ironically, Keith Urban ever did well on the show. As a result, Underwood cannot help but sound big, even on a song about needing to chill. “Smoke Break” tonally makes no sense, but works as an anthem about needing a damn break.
[7]
Jonathan Bogart: In ten to twenty years, the people who believe that country is only good when it’s firmly in the past will be lamenting the fact that no one sounds like Carrie Underwood anymore.
[7]