Song Review: Chris Ekiss – Secondhand Smoke (2025)

Album Overview

• Title: Secondhand Smoke (Single)
  
  

• Artist: Chris Ekiss
  
  

• Release Date: August 22, 2025
  
  

• Label: Independent Release
  
  

• Format: Digital Single
  
  

• Key Themes: Regret, lingering pain, and emotional residue from past relationships. The imagery of "secondhand smoke" functions as a metaphor for the toxic aftermath of someone else’s choices and the way their presence lingers even when they are gone.
  
  

Chris Ekiss’s Secondhand Smoke arrives as a confessional, heart-on-sleeve single that blends Americana grit with alt-country textures. It’s raw, bruised, and honest, living in the shadows of memory and emotional fallout.

Technical Mastery

Instrumentation – Score: 83/100 (Very Good)

Warm acoustic guitar strums lay the foundation, while electric guitar lines smolder in the background like embers. The instrumentation is intentionally unpolished—leaning into a barroom authenticity that makes the track feel lived-in. Subtle percussive elements give it forward momentum without overpowering the mix.

Vocals – Score: 88/100 (Excellent)

Ekiss’s vocal delivery is weary yet soulful, capturing both grit and vulnerability. His tone carries a rasp that complements the smoke-filled metaphor, giving the performance a lived-through-the-fire authenticity. There are moments where his voice cracks slightly, and instead of weakness, it adds an emotional punch.

Audio Engineering – Score: 80/100 (Good)

The production opts for warmth over polish. Reverb on the vocals creates a sense of space, while the guitar tones are slightly rough around the edges. The mixing keeps the track grounded, though a cleaner separation of instruments could have elevated its replayability.

Artistic Depth

Lyrical Analysis – Score: 90/100 (Excellent)

The metaphor of secondhand smoke is powerful and well-executed, symbolizing emotional baggage left behind by someone else’s choices. A standout lyric:

“Your fire burned out, but the smoke still stays / I’m choking on the ashes of yesterday.”

This line encapsulates the song’s theme of lingering emotional damage, and it offers universal relatability while staying grounded in vivid imagery.

Genre Innovation – Score: 78/100 (Good)

While Secondhand Smoke doesn’t break new ground in Americana or alt-country, it does embrace the genre’s raw, storytelling roots effectively. Its strength lies in how it distills timeless songwriting traditions into a modern, emotionally relevant single.

Cohesion – Score: 85/100 (Very Good)

Every element—from vocal delivery to production tone—serves the song’s central metaphor. The track feels unified, carrying the weight of its theme from the first guitar strum to the fading outro.

Audience Appeal

Replay Value – Score: 82/100 (Very Good)

The song’s haunting imagery and emotional resonance give it strong replay value, especially for listeners drawn to storytelling-heavy songwriting. However, its melancholic tone may limit casual, everyday playability.

Target Demographics – Score: 84/100 (Very Good)

Secondhand Smoke will resonate most with fans of Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton, and Tyler Childers. It also has crossover appeal for indie folk and Americana listeners who appreciate gritty storytelling wrapped in heartfelt performances.

Standout Moments

• Memorable Lyric: “Your fire burned out, but the smoke still stays.” A haunting encapsulation of emotional residue.
  
  

• Iconic Instrumentation: The smoldering electric guitar lines evoke both tension and atmosphere, making the track feel cinematic.
  
  

• Unique Production Effect: The deliberate rawness in the mix makes it sound like a late-night performance in a smoky barroom—a fitting sonic texture for its subject.
  
  

Comparative Context

Chris Ekiss leans deeper into emotional storytelling here than in his earlier work, where the focus was often more on narrative than metaphor. Compared to his past releases, Secondhand Smoke feels darker, more atmospheric, and more emotionally vulnerable, signaling an evolution toward mature, weightier songwriting.

Within the broader Americana/alt-country landscape, the single holds its own beside heavyweights like Jason Isbell and Chris Stapleton—not necessarily reinventing the genre but contributing a heartfelt, deeply personal entry.

Final Verdict

Overall Score: 85/100 (Very Good)

Chris Ekiss’s Secondhand Smoke is a smoky, atmospheric dive into the lingering scars of past relationships. It thrives on its lyrical strength, emotional delivery, and cohesive mood. While it doesn’t reinvent Americana, it embodies the genre’s storytelling essence and leaves listeners with the haunting aftertaste of smoke that refuses to fade.