Released March 12, ‘Jazz Cigarette’ is the latest single from Atria. We wrote about his first single, ‘Lucky‘, a few months back, a song which was the artist’s take on The Beatitudes, aka The Sermon on the Mount.
The new single retains Atria’s laid back vocals set against an electronic instrumental, but brings in a more R&B style melody, as well as some funk elements, like a jazz saxophone, to go with that jazz cigarette, don’t you know!
And it’s the instrumental, coming in at the last third of the song, that’s the star of this song, with the brass section, beautifully performed Jason Prover and Doug Fischer, taking us along on a musical daydream. The lyrics however, at first seemingly-simplistic – mostly a repetition of the “jazz cigarette” refrain – are in fact quite deceptive; the singer scats through the problems and issues in their life, all of which can be remedied by getting a jazz cigarette. Halfway through the song, Atria sings of his baby daughter, and how much he wants to save her from the cruelty of the world – “there’s too much”. And there’s the crux of the song, and maybe the reason for most of his jazz cigarettes: he wants the world to be a better place for her: he’s worried about climate change.
Atria wrote a biography of Curtis Mayfield in 2016, and it’s possible to hear Mayfield’s influence in ‘Jazz Cigarette’.
‘Jazz Cigarette’ is from Atria’s debut album, ‘Moonbrain’, set for release on April 2, which, can you believe, is next month already.
Listen to ‘Jazz Cigarette’ below.
