Waiting for Smith – ‘Raised Up’

Waiting for Smith discusses his debut album, Raised Up

Release Date: May 31, 2024

Rising British singer/songwriter Waiting for Smith has released his debut album, Raised Up. Following the success of the title track, the album delves into themes of vibrational joy, self-worth, positivity, and letting go. Rejecting the conventional focus on negativity and superficial success, Waiting for Smith offers uplifting, introspective, and genre-blending compositions. This 10-track collection seamlessly fuses acoustic folk, pop sensibilities, soulful vocals, soothing piano lines, and ambient soundscapes, embodying his uninhibited creativity. Describing the album as a “warm bath that you can step into after a long day of stress,” Waiting for Smith aims to provide listeners with a soothing and enriching musical experience.

Follow along as Waiting for Smith discusses each track from his album, Raised Up.

“This album was always meant to be more than just music. I really wanted it to be a guided playlist on people’s journey into happiness. Each track is meant to help you find & access a different part of your joy.”

— Waiting for Smith

1. ‘Let Light In’
= Open Up to the joy within you

‘Let Light In’ was one of the first songs I wrote for this record in South Africa. I just temporarily stopped all my deals, and basically decided to take a break from music and go to SA. This song came to me one morning looking over Llandudno Bay and realising that it could always be my decision to decide & invite more happiness into my life. In fact I felt that the words “It gets better, Oh that weather, if you let her, if you let light in” may help others to just that – to choose happiness.

2. ‘Some Words’
= Increase feelings of self worth

The idea for the song came to me when I got home from SA – I was on a train to Germany to play a support show for my friend and I saw an affirmation someone posted. I started to repeat parts of it – and then kind of made it my own. Suddenly I had the thought was if you could help people to feel beautiful through repetition of a song. Grabbing my guitar I went to a quiet part of the carriage and started playing this really nice rhythm. ‘Some Words’ was born.

3. ‘Raised Up’
= Go back to basics: build fire, break bread and ground

‘Raised Up’ is all about gathering, friends, family and the power of ceremony. The song came to me after getting home from a retreat in Spain. I had this strong sense that the community gave us so much and to gather with people that understand you can be so powerful. I sang this song around many campfires before finally recording it in London and Cape Town. We actually made it twice. As the first version was too big and something about this track needed to be intimate – so I played and sung this at the same time in RAK Studios London.

4. ‘White Light Of Love’
= Change Your Career path

‘White Light of Love’ was written before leaving for South Africa. I had just been through a particular hectic 13 months of my life – overcoming huge amounts of mental health problems. I felt kind of knackered and started playing this song to myself as a soothing balm to heal. It felt like when I played it – others felt that too. So the idea was for people to play this on a journey – where the destination was unknown – to help others find & refine what it is they would love to do with their life.

5. ‘Small Things’
= Wind down & reduce anxiety

Opening with the lyric “whatever you’re right, you’re right to feel, you know we will all eventually heal. Don’t worry about the small things.” ‘Small Things’ was written with the intention to clear away negative emotions. It was always intended to be an anthem and cyclical with its production. As worry goes in cycles – so in order to cure worry you have to match its patterning. The drums drive, the bass line is addictive but we’re in no rush to get to the end. As the journey of healing one’s traumas and rewiring the mind to become more free takes time. I saw people driving somewhere or revising for exams to this song. It reminding them not to worry. And that’s exactly what happened – it seems to be helping people alleviate that surface level radio that keeps filling us with stress, anxiety, and self doubt. The track plays out with the choir singing “Away, away, away, away, away, away” This is worries leaving the mind.

6. ‘Nature’s Mind’
= Connect with your mind & Nature

In Cape Town we were exploring a lot – heading into Nature for long periods of time. One night I started writing some lyrics about it. But I couldn’t find what they were trying to say. My girlfriend Lian sat down next to me and we started talking about it. She asked me “what are you trying to say?” And I said “these four chords sound like sea, when I play them they bring me peace” She smiled. Then we finished the verses together. The first and only song we’ve ever wrote. It was magic. We had no chorus. That night I fell asleep thinking about the adventures we were having and I thought what happens if people living in cities hear this and think ohhh well If I can’t get into Nature I’ll never be happy. Suddenly I ran to my guitar and sung:

“And if you can’t go to nature
then it’s alright
And if you’re not near the water
then it’s just fine
And when you feel there’s no order
then you hold tight
Close your eyes and go there in your mind”

It was an ode to mediation, the power of the mind to take you places you can’t go.

7. ‘Lightness In You’
= Realise your power

‘Lightness In You’ was a song that came just before I headed on my first tour of America in 2019. It came while on holiday in Greece rehearsing for the tour. Playing around with my looper this line came “There’s no sadness in you, there’s a lightness in youth… there’s no lightness in pain, so don’t shout at the rain” and I kept singing it knowing it wasn’t quite right … finally what came through was:

“there’s no negative in truth, there’s a lightness in you
So just sit with the rain until yourself falls away”

This song truly pulled me out of anger and sadness so many times, it was a reminder to realise the power of my lightness. It had to be on the album because everytime I performed it live – people instantly became happier. When the “I” or ego seems to falls away for a moment I believe all that is left is pure joy and lightness – it’s in everyone of us.

8. ‘No Sign’
= Find your unique gift to the world

This was a co-write with Yori (a super talented dutch singer/songwriter). We instantly connected when we first met over searching for life’s big questions and this was the first song we wrote in an afternoon together. We both had been writing a lot of pop songs for other artists and so decided to write about our experience with psychedelics and the lessons it had taught us. The message is very simple that you actually don’t need a sign to realise you have a unique gift to give the world. Whether it’s painting a masterpiece, becoming a super social postman, artist, healer or mother. If you do work that’s in service to humanity in someway and enjoy it – you will become happier. It’s all about being who you were meant to be. It opens:

“I joined the church on a Saturday, they told me to be myself today, they said you should really should actually stay, if you don’t see you as you.” I LOVE this record.

9. ‘Feel Ya Flow’
= Wake Up & find your inspiration.
Break through procrastination.

We all procrastinate and it stops us actually spending time doing what we love. Why we procrastinate is a kind of a mystery but I believe it’s something to do with the amount of options we have today. This track joined the Raised Up album party a little late but also at the perfect time – I felt that some people would need to hear something upbeat to get excited about their own lives. This song literally fell out in nearly one take – it’s all about truly feeling who you are and going for 100%. When you do that life seems to flow in your direction.

10. ‘Ocean’s Release’
= Learn to Let Go

This song is about letting go – like the ocean waves that come into shore for just a moment and then rejoin the water. It felt like a metaphor for the washing away of trouble and old pain. The ‘Ocean’s Release’ is this image in my mind of this big ocean listening to so many people’s troubles but yet it just stays constant – never judging or holding onto anything it hears. This song came to me in 2018 looking over the shores of Greece not long after I had broken my back and spent a year in bed recovering. It helped me to heal and let go. To not hold onto the past. I wanted it to do just that for anyone that listened to it. We recorded it at 5am one early morning to the sunrise looking over the mountains and then went for a surf.

RAISED UP (The Album)

Produced & Mixed by Danton Supple (Coldplay, Patti Smith, Elbow). Featuring The Ingoma Choir from the IY Community, South Africa Hout Bay.

The “Raised Up Menu”

When you’re done here lose yourself in our full library of features.