The Otherside – the sophomore album by Cam – is one of the most hotly anticipated records of 2020. Here, we review the record and reveal our standout tracks.
It has been nearly 5 years since Cam’s phenomenal debut record Untamed, and so her sophomore record The Otherside has doubtless been one of the most anticipated releases of 2020. For this record, without losing any of her signature sound, Cam has layered up on production, expanded her pool of co-writers and dug deep to put out her most authentic music yet. Her richly textured vocal soars over the entirety of the project, weaving itself through the more pop heavy ‘Classic’ to the heart wrenching bars of ‘Forgetting You.’ The record celebrates individuality, healing, celebrates the beauty in pain and heartbreak and above all human resilience – it’s been a long road to The Otherside but it was worth the wait.
The record opens with plucky ‘Redwood Tree,’ a meditative and pensive track about the tree back at her parents’ home. ‘Don’t know what you have when you’re young / But you’ll know what you had when it’s gone.’ The track brings back the personal storytelling touch that made Cam such an instant fan favourite on tracks like ‘Village.’ ‘The Otherside,’ by contrast – one of the few external cuts on the record – beckons in a new side to Cam’s production replete with a dance-track tinge. This is one of the most poppy and effervescent tracks we have heard from Cam and it is simply joyful. Seamlessly, the record moves straight into ‘Classic,’ a swinging track about the ‘classic’ people in life. Co-written with Jack Antonoff (long-time collaborator with Taylor Swift), like ‘The Otherside,’ the track shows a new, more playful side to Cam that is captivating.
Cam still has the ability to capture the pain of heartbreak like no other. ‘Forgetting You’ is one of those moments, about moving on from heartbreak but not being able to forget someone when you’re alone. Cam’s vocal has the ability to capture emotion in every lyric, so in ‘What Goodbye Means’ she sings of yearning for a relationship to not be over and she breathes raw emotion into every word. ‘Like A Movie’ offers the flip side of the coin, about knowing when ‘it’s right‘ when it’s ‘like a movie‘ ‘like a soundtrack that brings you right back.’ The final verse replete with strings add to the drama of this powerful, bittersweet track.
‘Changes’ – the second external cut on the record – is another stunning track about moving on and growing up from a surprising collaboration of Harry Styles, Lori McKenna, Tom Hull and Tyler Johnson. The result is a stunningly poignant track ripe with nostalgia – and yes that is Harry Style’s whistle in the interlude. Cam has jam-packed some heavy hitters on this record and the final external cut is no exception, ‘Happier For You’ is a Sam Smith co-write. With a blues-y tinge, the track narrates the misery at seeing her ex-lover marry someone else ‘my darling don’t worry, one day I’ll be happier.’
Sultrier track ‘Til There’s Nothing Left’ is one of the more heavily produced tracks on the record – a drama-fuelled track about laying everything on the table with a lover. Released months before the album release, like ‘Diane,’ both tracks perfectly capture Cam’s transition to a broader sonic landscape.
The Otherside rounds out with ‘Girl Like Me’ a co-write with Natalie Hemby that is perhaps her most personal and powerful track, reading like a beautiful letter to her daughter Lucy and is more akin to her first record ‘Untamed.’ ‘They’re going to give up on you / You’re going to give up on them.’ It’s a quieter track but is intensely powerful, displaying Cam’s sensitivity and is a perfect closing note to end her sophomore record.
‘The Otherside’ is a powerfully personal record and it defiantly moves Cam’s sound in a new, more experimental direction, whilst retaining the authenticity in her lyrics that made ‘Untamed’ such a hit. We’re already waiting to see what happens next, let’s hope we don’t have to wait as long till the next one.
Editor’s Picks
Changes
Like a Movie
Girl Like Me
