Boston country artist Elisa Smith draws from womanhood, family and generations of musical history on her new Americana-rock album, Perfume.
Boston country artist Elisa Smith has released Perfume, an 11-track collection celebrating feminine strength in all its complicated forms.
The album follows Smith’s 2024 EP Spirit on the Run and arrives after four years of work. Smith describes Perfume as her most autobiographical record yet, drawing from her experiences as a woman, mother, daughter and sister while exploring everything from vulnerability and desire to resilience and joy.
Musically, Perfume pushes Smith’s country and Americana roots toward a bigger rock and roll sound. She points to artists ranging from Loretta Lynn and Neil Young to The Rolling Stones and Def Leppard as touchstones, with the album moving between outlaw country, pop-country and more dramatic rock arrangements.
Opening track “Angels (Who Take No Shit)” sets that tone immediately. Inspired by Kitty Wells’ “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels,” the song celebrates women in country music who refused to quietly accept the expectations placed upon them, with Smith specifically drawing inspiration from Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton.
Elsewhere, “Gimmie A Mustang” turns a Nashville rental car into a freewheeling anthem, while “Smut” explores female desire with a darker, more seductive atmosphere. Across the record, Smith also examines motherhood, generational strength, heartbreak and the ways women understand themselves through one another.
Smith produced Perfume herself, with the record tracked at Battery Life Studio in Nashville and mixed by four-time Grammy winner Chuck Ainlay. Ten percent of proceeds from record sales will also benefit Boston women’s shelter Rosie’s Place.
Rather than dropping every song onto streaming services at once, Smith is releasing them individually over the coming months, giving each piece of Perfume its own moment within the larger story.