Sarah Buxton - Space
By: Matt Bjorke
Last Updated: October 7, 2008 12:00 AM
To most country music fans, Sarah Buxton is an unknown quantity. Anyone that reads liner notes will have noticed her as a co-writer, with Dave Berg, of Keith Urban’s hit single “Stupid Boy.” Now, she’s back a new single written with Lari White and Chuck Cannon.
Have you ever been in a relationship where your partner said they feel suffocated and just wanted some ‘space?’ Ever not understood what that meant? Then you will certainly relate to “Space.” It’s a song that finds Sarah singing to a boyfriend who feels the world closing in due to his fear of commitment and the speed at which the relationship is progressing along. He’s a man who can’t convey his true feelings so he says the short and hurtful way to break-up: “I need space.”
Sarah Buxton has scored a couple of previous Top 40 hit singles on her own but “Space” is by far the best thing she’s released to radio yet. It’s a song that both men and women can relate to and one that is sure to finally break this uniquely voiced singer/songwriter at radio.
READER'S COMMENTS
Rick says:
Posted: Friday, October 24, 2008
TAyers, I'd just like to say that when I refer to "AirHead Country Radio" I'm focusing on the stations that stick with the established big name artists and are rarely open to new artists until they've already had decent chart success. I wish more Top 40 mainstream country PD's were like you and responded to the uniqueness of talents like Sarah Buxton. I'm not surprised that your listeners, who are used to Sugarland and Carrie Underwood, didn't respond favorably to "Space" as its very different from most of the Top 20 songs. You should contact Lyric Street about getting sent a copy of "There You Go" to offer to your listeners for a "test drive" as I think they would be much more receptive. I hope "There You Go" is being held at the ready to replace "Space" once that song falters at radio.
TAyers says:
Posted: Thursday, October 23, 2008
The songwriting of "Space" is fantastic. There's no doubt Buxton is talented in that respect. I'm a music director at a hot country radio station, and as soon as I heard this song, I fell in love with it. Our listeners, however, did not agree. We used it as a music feature this week and got a strongly negative response, probably due to the unconventional quality of her voice. Too bad. I agree about labels making poor decisions on songs to release as singles. Thanks to Rick's comments, I'm going to listen to more of her album tracks and hope for something that doesn't make her sound like Elmyra from Tiny Toons.
Matt B. says:
Posted: Tuesday, October 7, 2008
I disagree. I think that this song is perfect for this time of year. It has a realistic shot of getting up the charts. It's not much different than Stupid Boy.
Jordan Stacey says:
Posted: Tuesday, October 7, 2008
I like the song, but like rick said I don't think this one'll be the one that breaks her through. I think that "Miss It" whould've been a better choice.
Rick says:
Posted: Tuesday, October 7, 2008
I love Sarah Buxton but I just don't see this song making much of a dent at mainstream country radio. Its slow paced and serious with meaningful lyrics, and that plus five bucks will get her a cup of coffee at Starbucks and nowhere with country radio! Power pop with a lot of hooks is what Top 40 country radio wants and some of Sarah's new music is more in a folk rock singer-songwriter style. Lyric Street really should have released "Cowboys" as Sarah's third radio single while "That Kind of Day" was fading off the charts rather than let her career get cold. Of the new songs on her MySpace website "There You Go" is much better suited to AirHead Country Radio than "Space" although both are fine songs. Labels making poor decisions about single releases with the artists I really like seems to be an epidemic. I hope this isn't Sarah's last radio single.....