Well-crafted pop songs are deceptive simplicity at best. The melodies, so accessible and infectious, spill out so easily. When Corinne McKnight is the one to write and perform these songs, it’s easy to forget how much raw talent and hard work go into them It’s also easy just to sit back and listen, and her new album, Behind Each Kiss (out August 2015 on Over the Well) is perfect for just that. Though McKnight is only 18, this is her third full-length. She’s been performing for nearly a decade already, opening for Vince Gill earlier this summer. Local Sounds Magazine praised her 2014 release, Take My Hand, calling the songs “exquisitely catchy” and “downright lovable.” “It’s quick to see that this girl means business,” writes Rick Tvedt. And McKnight is in the business of not just music but of alchemy. She spins heartbreak and confusion into effortless confections. On “Better Than You,” her acoustic guitar pulses steadily beneath the reluctant optimism of her lyrics. “I’ll be waiting for the time when I find someone better than you,” she sings. Schooled in piano, voice, and guitar, McKnight started performing at eight. Recent years have shown her growing dedication to songwriting, as evidenced by her frequent writers’ nights in Nashville. Behind Each Kiss is her first album as sole songwriter, though it certainly won’t be her last. McKnight was accepted into a highly competitive songwriting program at Belmont College in Nashville and begins this fall. Her new song “Okay” testifies to the nervous excitement that comes with such change. “All my dreams are coming true, but I’m so scared,” McKnight sings. While vulnerability is integral to McKnight’s songcraft, she doesn’t rest on pathos. Rather, she deals in velvet melodies and mid-tempo rhythms that stay contemporary without capitalizing on trends. On Behind Each Kiss, McKnight is supported by the same ensemble cast of musicians that backed her on Take My Hand. Eric Hester, Michael Brenneis, and Dan Kennedy offer instrumentation that complements McKnight’s voice, and the album’s production ensures that said voice stays front and center. Her acoustic guitar is here, but toy piano keyboards also bolster “Another Yesterday” while muffled piano frames the contemplative “Tonight.”