The Mercury Lounge (Venue Partner)
217 E Houston St
212.260.4700
This event has passed.
- When
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Wednesday Mar 10, 2010 (6:30pm)
- Where
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Directions: F, JMZ at Essex and Delancey or F, V at 2nd Ave
- Price
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$10
April Smith & The Great Picture Show will self-release Songs For A Sinking Ship on February 23, 2010. Smith and her band are riding a wave of critical acclaim, including the RollingStone.com proclamation, "It's possible you haven't heard much about April Smith, but all that is about to change." The album's sound was informed by the '30s and '40s, juke joints and cabaret, the Andrews Sisters and Tom Waits. Smith covers a wide range as a singer and songwriter, from the heartbroken ballad "Beloved" to the cheeky tell-off "Stop Wondering" and the sexy swagger of "Wow and Flutter." Her voice swoons and seduces, and then escalates to breathtaking peaks, backed by piano, upright bass, drums, guitar, horns, ukulele, accordion and even, when the occasion warrants, a suitcase used as a bass drum. It's the music of a precocious child that never lost her curiosity and verve, and of a beguiling woman who clutches music to her chest and embraces new twists to her character. She bounds between happy, anxious, sassy, seductive, melancholy, and murderous - sometimes in the same song. "I'm a little sarcastic and sometimes I'm a little bit creepy," she says. She's also silly and whip-smart, with a strangely sage outlook. "I judge people by how long they'd survive in a slasher movie. If I think they'd make it to the last ten minutes, they're alright!" She knows it's "kinda weird," but "it all comes out just the way I want it to in my music."
