Legendary rock artist Patti Smith has combined talent with her daughter Jesse Paris Smith and New York and Berlin based art collective Soundwalk Collective to create a new LP called Killer Road. The project is a homage to singer Nico. You can listen to the new single “I Will Be Seven” off of the LP below:
The track has a lonely, ambient vibe to it. It starts off with recordings of birds, crickets, and other animals, painting a picture of a cold, desolate summer night. It’s slow and fluttering, almost to the point of being unsettling. The repetitive lyrics are used more to provide texture rather than a melody supported by an instrumental backbone. Like how post-rock uses guitar as texture instead of utilizing guitar solos or riffs, this track uses its vocals to further push the ambient vibe they were striving for.
This kind of track would be better classified as a sound-based art project instead of a song. This makes sense considering Soundwalk Collective’s identity, which is not that of a band, but that of a sound-based art collective. They contributed the ambient noises heard in the beginning of the track, as the group is known for actually going out into the field themselves to record noises to sample in their work.
Patti Smith recently her collaboration with Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea on a live album, titled Pathway to Paris. The unusual trio managed to produce a rich, thoughtful album that utilized each of their far removed yet equally admirable talents to their fullest.
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