New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Today,
Jesse Harris - the songwriter who first burst onto the national radar when he won the Song Of The Year GRAMMY for writing the
Norah Jones classic "Don't Know Why," and who since collaborated with Maya Hawke and John Zorn, and had his songs performed by Cat Power, Willie Nelson, Feist, and
Bright Eyes - shares "One In A Million," the latest song from his new album
Silver Balloon, out October 21 on Harris's own Secret Sun Recordings.
Harris's performance of "
One In A Million" has a distinctly after-hours vibe, as he sings with the bleary-eyed, direct romanticism of someone intoxicated on both love and a couple of cocktails. While Harris marvels at the sheer unlikelihood of any two souls encountering one another, the song's production - closely miked, gently distorted, and run through the H3000 Harmonizer - lends it a vaseline lens sheen, granting Harris's love-addled musings a vintage allure. It's a concise yet unhurried nugget of melodic genius, recorded with minimal fuss and performed with a richness of character.
Watch a video for "
One In A Million" - an isolated fireworks display directed, filmed and edited by Kenny Wollesen - at Top40-charts.com!
Silver Balloon was recorded over 8 days with collaborator and drummer Kenny Wollesen (Norah Jones, Tom Waits, Bill Frisell) in Harris's home studio, the hub for Harris's indie label Secret Sun Recordings. Utilizing a loose, anything-goes approach — as well as a mastery of vintage song structures and harmonic flourishes learned from jazz standards, primitivist blues, and Brill Building compositions — Harris and Wollesen were able to capture serendipitous moments of genius throughout
Silver Balloon. Whether it's a smoky minimal blues ("On This Lonely Night"), ominous Bossa novas ("
Yankee"), or torch songs embossed with pixelated distortion and robotically-processed saxophone ("
Hummingbird"), these 10 exquisite songs beckon you to examine their inner workings over and over again, just to figure out what exactly makes them work so well.
Cool Hunting called lead single "The Hanged Man" "moody, macabre and offbeat…It's strangely alluring and melodic—and an exciting glimpse of what's to come."
Jesse Harris will be performing songs from
Silver Balloon at a series of upcoming performances, including a just-announced Brooklyn concert at the Sultan Room on November 9th with Tōth and Mirian Elhajli, as well as additional shows in Paris and Los Angeles — see dates below.
Silver Balloon:
"The Hanged Man"
"
Yankee"
"Out In The Storm"
"
One In A Million"
"
Hummingbird"
"On This Lonely Night"
"New Year's Day"
"Silver Balloon"
"The Good Morning Song"
"
Shadow"
Live Dates
Oct 5 — Paris, FR @ Le Baiser Sale
Nov 5 — Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon
Nov 9 — Brooklyn, NY @ The Sultan Room.
