Hear Blackberry Smoke, Amanda Shires Team Up for ‘Let Me Down Easy’ [LISTEN]

Blackberry Smoke have dropped a new song, "Let Me Down Easy," featuring Amanda Shires. Readers can press play above to listen to the mid-tempo, gentle swing of the tender breakup song.

Shires provides backup harmony vocals in the bittersweet lyrics, backed by a mellow acoustic guitar: "Let me down easy if you can / I'm not half as strong as you think I am / It may seem like I don't care / Baby, that's just my disguise / Look closer, and you'll see I'm still a kid behind the eyes / I'm barely on my feet, and one more lick would put me down / Show a little mercy, honey, I'm pleading with you now." 

Blackberry Smoke's Charlie Starr says that the choice to add Shires onto the track was an obvious one: “I wrote "Let Me Down Easy" with my old buddy, Keith Nelson," Starr shares. "We really wanted a cool female voice on it. I thought it would be really cool to have a female harmony on this song, sort of a Gram Parsons-Emmylou Harris kind of thing, and Amanda came to mind. Amanda Shires most definitely has a cool voice. She sings beautifully on it.”

"Let Me Down Easy" is off Blackberry Smoke's latest album, Find a Light, which is set for release on April 6; the band has also shared its tracks "Best Seat in the House" and "Flesh and Bone" ahead of the release, and these tracks are available on iTunes now.

Blackberry Smoke have a lengthy tour planned for 2018. A full schedule is available on their website.