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Cam on Working With Harry Styles, Sam Smith, and Avicii on ‘The Otherside’

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Cam spoke about working with her collaborators Harry Styles, Sam Smith, and Avicii on her latest record, The Otherside.

Cam On Sam Smith

“So it was more like an intersection of paths with my musical neighbors. I had written a track for Sam called ‘Palace,’ for his album and I got to open up for him on tour. We knew each other. Tyler [Johnson] who works with me on a lot of stuff and had been working with Sam, sent over this demo. I listened to it in a crowded cafe in New York, I remember I know this sadness where your ex is moving on. When people ask you how you’re doing and you’re like, ‘I’m fine,’ but the truth is, if you’re Sam Smith or if you’re me, you have to be honest. One day I’ll be fine, but honestly now I’m not okay. That vulnerability paired with these big soaring melodies, I live for that.

Cam on Harry Styles

Harry I got to open for him at the Ryman a few years ago. Again, Ty was working with him on his albums and I got to hear a demo. Really it’s not professional, friendly, under the table type stuff. I got to hear a demo of Lori McKenna singing “Changes” with Harry singing backgrounds and whistling. Again, nobody wants to outgrow their hometown or the people they’ve known from the beginning. But you are going to grow, so what does that mean and where does that leave you? That kind of ache. I was so happy that I felt open enough to hear myself in those. To say, ‘I can sing that, I can’t whistle that, we’re going to have to use Harry’s whistle but I can sing that.’ I think it’s a new step for me to not be so… I used to feel like it was cheating to not write your own stuff. I used to think I had to do every single step. It’s really beautiful to offer something up that has some things that are harder to say for yourself but you still want to say it. 

Find out if there were any changes to the original demos and if she got their seals of approvals, below.

 

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Jacklyn is the Editor In Chief of Stage Right Secrets. Jacklyn's photography and articles can also be found on The Recording Academy's GRAMMY.com GRAMMYPro, GRAMMYU, PopCrush, Taste of Country, among other outlets. Besides press Jacklyn is a "Jack of All Trades" working various jobs at local concerts and touring. JacklynKrol.com