Instead Springs allows her comely alto to become a conduit that touches upon soul, jazz and pop while transforming those aforementioned influences into a personalized sound that reveals itself effortlessly. “The artists who have inspired me the most all sang so naturally,” Springs says. “That helped me find my own sound.”
Springs’ journey to discovering her uniqueness didn’t happen overnight. In fact, her 2014 self-titled debut EP had a decidedly contemporary R&B/hip-hop bent with production by Pop & Oak (Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Miguel). The EP was incredibly well-received and led to TV performances on Late Show With David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, as well as appearances at the Afropunk and Bonnaroo festivals.
As amazing an experience as that was, as Springs got ready to record her album she couldn’t shake the feeling that she wasn’t yet singing her true self. Conversations with her longtime producers Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers led to soul searching and rethinking her musical direction. Eventually Springs returned to a more spacious, organic sound that channels her earlier jazz influences as well as her Nashville upbringing.
Also during this period, Springs attracted the attention of Prince, who heard her makeover of Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me” on the website Okayplayer. The music icon invited her to perform with him at Paisley Park for the 30th anniversary of Purple Rain. “He encouraged me a lot before I recorded this new record, especially during the time in which I was trying to figure out my sound,” Springs says. “He told me that I needed to do what comes naturally to me. He was absolutely right.”
For Soul Eyes, Springs continued working closely with Rogers and Sturken, but they also recruited Grammy-winning producer Larry Klein (Lizz Wright, Melody Gardot, Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock) to help the singer bring out her distinctive artistic traits. “Larry wanted me to be free in the studio,” Springs recalls. “I’ve been through a lot of other sessions in which the producer tries to take control of your sound. Larry was just like, ‘Go in and play what you feel.’ That ultimately led to the best outcome; he captured this record perfectly.”
Klein praises Springs as a “natural.” “In this era, in which flash and hunger for fame is often equated with talent, she’s that rare person who sings and plays because that is what she needs to do in life,” he says. “When I first heard Kandace, I was sold after hearing one song. Her smoky voice coupled with a sense of phrasing way beyond her years, and her angular way of accompanying herself on piano grabbed me right away.”
The eleven songs contained on Soul Eyes all feature Springs playing piano alongside an illustrious cast of musicians that includes trumpeter Terence Blanchard, guitarists Dean Parks and Jesse Harris, drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, organist Pete Kuzma, bassist Dan Lutz, percussionist Pete Korpela.
Through much of Soul Eyes, Springs sings about romantic affairs of the heart, starting off with the effervescent, country-laden “Talk to Me,” penned by Harris, who also wrote the gentle, life-affirming “Neither Old Nor Young.” The ruminative “Place to Hide” is a song by Judie Tzuke that Rogers has kept in the back of his mind for some time just waiting for the perfect singer to deliver it. “Every time I play that song, the room goes silent,” Springs says.
It was Sturken who introduced Springs to Mal Waldron’s signature jazz classic, “Soul Eyes.” “When I first heard it, it blew my mind,” she enthuses. “That song means so much to me.” Klein suggested the mesmerizing makeovers of two Shelby Lynne songs (“Thought It Would Be Easier” and “Leavin’”) as well as War’s haunting funk classic, “The World Is a Ghetto.”
Springs co-wrote the melancholy ballad, “Fall Guy” with Rogers and Sturken, as well as the searching, observational mid-tempo gem “Novocaine Heart.” She co-wrote the smoldering, cinematic slow-burner “Too Good To Last”—which features a soaring trumpet solo by Blanchard—with celebrated songwriters Greg Wells and Lindy Robbins. Springs composed the gorgeous solo album closer “Rain Falling” by herself. Featuring just voice and piano, the song dates back more than a decade ago to Springs’ late-teens.
“This new record is just right where it should be,” attests Springs, who draws much of her inspiration from her father, Scat Springs, a respected session singer in Nashville. It was due to him that Springs grew up surrounded by music, and he encouraged her to take piano lessons after he watched her peck out melodies on the instrument when she was 10. Yet as a girl, she was equally interested in other creative outlets, especially visual art and, more unexpectedly, automobiles. “My dad gave me a Matchbox car, a Thunderbird or something like that, and my mom gave me a Barbie,” she says. “I drew a mustache on the Barbie and never played with it again, and I still have the Matchbox car.” (Her obsession with cars, which she collects, rebuilds, and resells, continues to this day.)
It wasn’t until later that a friend of her father’s sparked something deeper in the young musician by giving her Norah Jones’ 2002 Blue Note debut, Come Away With Me. “The last song on the record is ‘The Nearness of You’ and that song really inspired me to learn to play piano and sing. It was just so soulful, simple and stripped down. That really moved me and touched me. It’s when I realized, ‘This is what I wanna do.’”
Springs did her own arrangement of “The Nearness of You” and performed it at a music camp in Nashville, which led to her gaining more professional gig experience in the city. An early demo Springs recorded caught the ears of Rogers and Sturken, who have written hits for the likes of Shakira, Christina Aguilera, and Kelly Clarkson, and are best known for discovering and signing Rihanna as a teenager. Rogers flew down to Nashville with an offer to sign Springs to their production company SRP. Still only 17 years old at the time, she and her family decided that it wasn’t the right time to pursue a recording career, instead taking a job at a downtown Nashville hotel where she valet parked cars by day and sang and played piano in the lounge at night.
A few years later, Springs was talking about going to automotive design school, but her mother suggested that she get back in touch with Rogers and Sturken. She instead moved to New York and started working seriously on new songs and demo recordings. She eventually landed an audition with Blue Note President Don Was at the Capitol Records Tower in Los Angeles, winning him over with a stunning performance of Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me” (the original of which he had coincidentally produced). “That song is so soulful. When I first heard that song, it almost moved me to tears,” Springs says. “I wrote my own arrangement for it a few years before I played it for him.”
Now as Springs continues to develop as singer and songwriter in her own right, she’ll surely win over many other hearts. “I would like to be known as one of the younger people that are keeping jazz and soul alive and vibrant, “she says. “I love the realness of jazz and soul.”
THOUGHT IT WOULD BE EASIER
Kandace Springs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
After you were gone
Thought I could pull myself together
And do fine on my own
Sometimes I do alright
Then I remember how I dreamed it
How I need it
I thought it would be easier
They never told me I'd be lonely no
Torn up and wasted
But when you saw something else and I
Couldn't wait to taste it
How was I to know
About the way you were scheming
Guess I must have been dreaming
I thought it would be easier
I thought it would be easier
I found that old shirt you used to wear
And it really brought me down
Does she like blue like I do?
I bet she gets around
All I know today
Is that I, I can't stand it
This ain't how I planned it
I thought it would be easier
I thought it would be easier
I thought it would be easier
I thought it would be easier
Kandace Springs's song "Thought It Would Be Easier" is a heartbreaking ballad about a woman who is struggling to adjust to life after a breakup. The song conveys the woman's disappointment as she finds that moving on from the relationship is more difficult than she thought it would be. Throughout the song, she expresses her thoughts and emotions about her loneliness, regret, and the struggle to accept that the relationship is over.
The first verse of the song reveals the woman's initial optimism about moving on from the relationship. She believed that she could handle it on her own and find solace without her partner. However, as she continues to reflect, she realizes that it's not as easy as she thought it would be. The second verse of the song talks about the woman's pain and regret as she reels from the end of the relationship. She is reminded of the times she shared with her partner when she comes across an old shirt he used to wear. The lyrics reveal the stark reality of how the woman is struggling to come to terms with the end of the relationship.
The chorus reiterates the woman's belief that moving on from the relationship would be easier. However, her experience shows that it is not so. She is torn up inside, and her emotions are faded amidst her hopes that things would have turned out differently. Overall, the song conveys an emotional journey reflecting the ups and downs that many people go through after the end of a significant relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
I always thought it would be easier
I believed that moving on from you would be simple
After you were gone
After you left and were no longer a part of my life
Thought I could pull myself together
I believed that I could gather my emotions and carry on by myself
And do fine on my own
And succeed on my own, without your assistance or company
Sometimes I do alright
Occasionally, I am able to manage and cope with my situation
Then I remember how I dreamed it
However, when I reflect on what I had previously hoped for
How I need it
Or when I realize how much I relied on you
I thought it would be easier
I realize that what I thought would be simple, is actually difficult
They never told me I'd be lonely no
No one had warned me that I would feel such profound isolation
Torn up and wasted
Feeling emotionally damaged and drained
But when you saw something else and I
When you found someone else, and I realized that I was no longer your focus
Couldn't wait to taste it
I was eager to try and experience something new
How was I to know
I had no way of knowing
About the way you were scheming
About the ways in which you were planning behind my back
Guess I must have been dreaming
I must have been naïve and unrealistic
I found that old shirt you used to wear
I discovered the shirt you used to wear that was left behind
And it really brought me down
Finding the shirt left me feeling depressed and sad
Does she like blue like I do?
I wonder if the person you're with now shares the same interests as me
I bet she gets around
I assume that she is promiscuous
All I know today
At this moment, this is the understanding I have
Is that I, I can't stand it
I have reached my limit and cannot tolerate this anymore
This ain't how I planned it
This is not what I had envisioned happening
I thought it would be easier
I had anticipated that this would all be simpler than it is
I thought it would be easier
I misunderstood the level of difficulty and intensity associated with this situation
I thought it would be easier
I had an unrealistic expectation that it would be uncomplicated
Contributed by Levi O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Lutz Albert
She has a voice and a feeling for the keyboard. Everything sounds like velvet and silk.
adrienjf
Kandace Springs I am your Fan ! Vraiment beaucoup de feeling et de groove , et trés subtile !😊
Chris Raven
This song is amazing! Melts away all of the tension of the day
Loi Salanoa
Amazing that a gem of a voice like this is still surviving the crappy “art” we hear today. She doesn’t need any electronic enhancements...pure natural voice.
Richard Bramley
Thank you for giving us back, Jazz and blues played and sung as originally portrayed by the greats of yesteryear. Absolutely love it and you Kandace.love from U.K.💞💖
Dogrocketp
This is what talent is. Close your eyes and appreciate a real musician.
Remi
Her music is beautiful ♥️
Jelly Forge
Listening to her is like drinking real hot chocolate at the end of a cold rainy day.
Xander B
His voice is gold !
Skygazer
I never heard of Kandice until I read a few articles after Prince's death and the names Judith Hill and Kandice Springs were mentioned so thought I would give a listen and I am so glad I did. Absolutely love Kandice voice, so much that I had to buy her album. This is talent!