Country newcomer Cam has been on fire lately. In case you’ve been living under a rock, Cam is a country music singer-songwriter who blazed onto the country scene in 2015. She began her career as a songwriter, composing songs for several artists including Miley Cyrus. In 2010, she released her debut studio album on an independent record label. Signed with Sony Music Nashville, Cam released her debut major label EP, Welcome to Cam Country, in March 2015. The album’s second track, “Burning House”, was played on the Bobby Bones Show and ended up receiving significant attention, and as a result, it became her breakout hit single. Cam launched her second studio album, Untamed in December 2015 on the success of the song. “Burning House” has since received widespread acclaim, including a Grammy nomination.
Cam recently released her third single, “Mayday” earlier this month. It’s a smart choice in a follow up single to “Burning House”. It picks up the tempo a little more and is a lighter song than “Burning House”, showing variety in her catalogue. “Mayday” happens to be one of my favorites from the record, and apparently, others’ as well. When “Mayday” was first announced as Cam’s next single, critics and industry writers rejoiced, calling it the best choice as the follow up. Written by Cam and Tyler Johnson, “Mayday” is about a failing relationship.
Cam opens the song explaining to her partner that, “You are overbearing and I’m not in love/ but I don’t want to tell you/ we’ve been contemplating how to give it up/ but I can’t convince you,” then later, makes one last desperate plea in the chorus, “Mayday, mayday/ this is an emergency/ mayday, mayday/ ya gotta let me leave/ I’m lying here inches away/ but you can’t hear me call mayday”. She continues to plead with her partner, begging him to let her leave before they both go down on the sinking ship that is their relationship.
Cam is making a name for herself as a great storyteller, first with “Burning House” and now with “Mayday”. She has the wonderful ability for emoting vocally. The thing that makes both “Mayday” and “Burning House” so powerful, second only to the lyrical story, are Cam’s emotion-infused vocals. Only time will tell how the single will fare on radio. Riding on the success of “Burning House”, she may be able to get airplay a little easier now, but alas, radio is pretty unpredictable right now. Either way, this single is solid and should be another hit for Cam.
Originally posted here.
