Following the release of 2008’s amazing “Halfway, pleased”, Curt Smith has begun work on a new album and this one is taking a more collaborative turn. Late last year Smith turned to Twitter to seek musicians interested in collaborating on some tracks with him. This has already resulted in one single, the superb “All Is Love” with the terrific cellist Zoë Keating. A second single has been released called “Perfectly…Still” and this time Smith teams up with musician Melissa R. Kaplan. As with the previous effort, Smith sent Kaplan the partially completed song to which she added her own vocals and instrumentation. The two have yet to meet in person. As far as I know, Smith is the first musician to utilize social media as a collaboration tool in putting together a new album. The completed record should be not only groundbreaking, but a treat for the ears.
Released under a Creative Commons license (as were “Halfway, pleased” and “All Is Love”), “Perfectly…Still” tells the story of a happy family man tempted by an exotic relationship in another country. Lyrically the song is both cautionary and celebratory and layered with double meanings. Smith probably writes the most dense songs in terms of there being many interpretations and you get something new with each listen. Even the song’s title can be taken several ways. This was co-written with Charlton Pettus and the two continue to be a songwriting force to be reckoned with. This song gets very interesting musically as Kaplan’s ethereal voice and spacey instrumentation sublimely enhance an already dynamic acoustic arrangement and the whole thing floats around inside your head like a vividly remembered dream. You’ll want to put this one on repeat for a long while and let yourself be fully immersed in it.
Again, this is another stellar track from the inimitable Curt Smith in which he shows the same impeccable intuition in picking a musical partner as he does in putting together an outstanding song. Check out more about Curt Smith at his website and chat with him on Twitter. You can also find out more about Melissa Kaplan at her website, Universal Hall Pass. And Don’t forget to check out Curt Smith’s weekly live music show Stripped Down Live every Wednesday at 8:00 PM PT.
Buy “Perfectly…Still” from Amazon, iTunes, Curt’s website or your favorite online retailer now!