Maverick Smith’s second full-length release in under a year, We Make Fire, They Make Smoke, burns with emotional fuel and genre-bending flair. Dropped on June 17 across all major platforms, the album is a bold and sprawling statement from a group that refuses to be boxed in. Hailing from Weirton, West Virginia, the band taps into their Rust Belt grit while interweaving alternative rock, alt-country, folk, punk, and cinematic orchestration.
The opening track, “Sinking Feeling,” sets the emotional stakes high with heavy strings that ache and writhe beneath Paige Bosic’s lush, melancholic vocals. It’s dark, tender, and full of soul, especially as the backing harmonies swell with haunting sensuality. By the time you reach “Mary Lou,” featuring Ken Stringfellow, you’re knee-deep in the band’s nuance. The guitars grit, the cymbals splash, and the soulful, howling backing vocals lend a throwback soul to an otherwise punchy, modern rock track that begs to be played live.
Later on, “So What Who Cares” kicks open the saloon doors with the swagger of an alt-country banger. With John DiCarlo lending vocals, the track punches with gritty guitars, stomping drums, and those signature female backing vocals that give the album a balance of softness and steel.
Maverick Smith’s We Make Fire, They Make Smoke is a love letter to imperfection, anthemic when it needs to be, and vulnerable when you least expect it. Listen to it on Spotify.
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Review by: Naomi Joan