Charlotte Cornfield’s New Single “Cut and Dry” Will Leave You in Shambles

“You and Me,” the first single off of Charlotte Cornfield’s fifth album, Could Have Done Anything, gave us a glimpse into how the Canadian singer/songwriter has been watching the world over the last two years. It was an engrossing love song that made pit stops across the US, touching down in Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and the Rocky Mountains. “Fell apart in 2010 / I did it once, won’t do it again / I take a deep breath and count to three / If anyone can make it, it’s you and me,” Cornfield sang. Could Have Done Anything, which arrives on May 12 via Double Double Whammy, is her clearest-eyed assemblage of songs yet.

Second single “Cut and Dry” is such a perfect example of why Cornfield is one of our best living songwriters. She paints a beautiful portrait around the melancholy of leaving. The story she tells, it’s emotional and poised and alive. “Sometimes we think that we know everything but / Then get surprised when the whole world comes crashing down / It’s hard to picture the city without you around,” she sings atop a combination of breezy guitars, vocalizations and horns. “Cut and Dry” is akin to many of Cornfield’s songs: Her taking the smallest moments and finding everlasting beauty within the margins. It’s hard to listen to this one and come out of it tearless. “I think I’m scared of you but that’s all in my head / Your messy hair, your day-old clothes, your unmade bed / I see myself in you and that’s the source of my dread,” she laments. “Cut and Dry” is a perfect coming-of-age folk song.