19. April 2025
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Media Review

Cassadee Pope – Rise and Shine

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Cassadee Pope - Rise and Shine

Cassadee Pope - Rise and Shine
4.8

Rating

 4.8/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Very touching, well-told acoustic songs
  • Amazing presence of Cassadee Pope's voice in that arrangement

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Just eight songs, less than 30 minutes

Not only after I met her at her Nashville fan party at during CMA Fest 2019, I love Cassadee Pope and her music. While she has been quite present on Flyctory.com at the beginning of the project, I am glad that I can feature some more music by her now. On 7th August 2020, she released a new album, Rise and Shine, which is an all acoustic recording.

Cassadee Pope – About The Artist

Cassadee Blake Pope was born on 28th August 1989 in West Palm Beach, Florida. She initially grew attention in the music business as the lead vocalist of the Florida-origin rock band Hey Monday, who had some decent success in their short history between 2008 and 2011, when they decided to be on hiatus. Thereafter, Pope decided to go for a solo career and released her first self-titled and self-labeled EP in 2012, which made a decent placement in the US Heat charts. Her career was boosted, however, by being the first female winner of The Voice int he same year. Her debut album Frame by Frame topped the charts. On the album side, however, it took Pope six more years until she released Stages, later she released a version of it with track by track commentary. Her biggest success so far was a duet with Chris Young, Think Of You. Just regarding pure solo recordings, her debut single Wasting All These Tears (2013), which sold over a million copies, was outstanding.

 

Cassadee Pope – Rise and Shine – Track by Track

Cassadee Pope’s acoustic album is eight songs, 27 minutes:

1. Let Me Go

But you don’t get me, so why you gotta keep on holding me back like this?
You don’t want me, but you won’t take these chains off from my wrists
I’ll never be good enough for you, never be good enough
What are we doing? You don’t get me so, so let me go
So let me go

If somebody will ever ask me why I love Cassadee Pope’s music – this song is a perfect choice to illustrate it. A great voice, which is so present and so lovely in this simplistic acoustic arrangement. She is touching me that deeply with the first track of the album already – even though she in fact released the song already six weeks before the album and I knew it before.

2. Hoodie

‘Cause I found your hoodie, in my backseat
And I wore it, still smells like you
And it’s funny, how it took me, back to us
It’s got nothing to do with, being in love
Wanting you back

This cheeky track is one which makes me smile definitely. Nice story, nice sound, cool lyrics. Top!

3. California Dreaming (feat. Sam Palladio)

It’s great if you have a talented singer for a duet in your song – and it is even greater if it is your boyfriend, so you do not really have to share the earnings of the tracks. I feel that the financial issue is just a subordinate reason why this collaboration lead to a lovely song. They both are just too talented to make a bad one.

4. Counting On The Weather

Rainmaker track? In this track, Pope describes how she is praying for a rainy day so that she has a snuggling romantic evening with the girl by her side. If you had any doubts about it before, she somehow states that it was an excellent choice to have a boyfriend from always-rainy Britain. I may be too quick and prejudiced here… 🙂 Lovely track!

5. Hangover

I love the way how Pope sings that she got the worst hangover from you. She is so great in playing with moods, creating different atmosphere – even when there is (more or less) just her and an acoustic guitar.

6. Rise and Shine

The title track of the album is very intense and touches me again deeply.

When you try your best and it just ain’t enough
You wanna spread your wings but you feel stuck
You could give it all up or just believe
And shake yourself awake from this bad dream

The lyrics are overall not too complex, it is really about how she combines lyrics with atmosphere, which just gives me that “wow”-feeling while I listen to that story.

7. Sand Paper

Sand Paper is quicker and more rhythmic again. I am still too much in the Rise and Shine mood, so that the track really has a tough time at me. Sorry!

8. Built This House

I built this house
From the foundation to the roof
Its all me
Baby, blood, sweat, and the truth
Solid ground and weatherproof
I had to
Tear the old one down
Was living in somebody else plans for me
Locked in and I couldn’t find the key
Now it’s wall-to-wall all me
I built this house

The album finishes with another example of nice story telling. You either take me as I am or you can’t come in cause. Keep up the great work.

 

 

Cassadee Pope – Rise and Shine – Spotify

Here is the Spotify widget for Rise and Shine:

 

Cassadee Pope – Rise and Shine – My View

Yeah, there is quite some sympathy from my side for this young lady – so I did expect a collection of songs I like when I started to listen into Rise and Shine. But finally, Cassadee Pope definitely blew all my expectations. The album is short, in songs and in playtime – but it is dense, superb quality, touching – or to use a simple word: excellent. Thank you for these tracks, Cassadee!

 

Postings related to Cassadee Pope

Here are all my postings about Cassadee Pope:

 

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