The unhurried folk-rock vocals of Billy Harvey shine on ‘Frozen Through’, from the remastered release of his classic album, ‘Pie’, which originally came out back in 2004.
This is a brand new recording of the track, stripped back to its bare acoustic bones, and the tempo sped up just the tiniest bit, and not for the first time today, we’re reminded of Tom Petty and Neil Young, with Harvey’s vocals on this new rendering, while not exactly upbeat, at times slightly gleeful. You can sense he’s enjoyed remaking this record.
Described by Bob Schneider, himself called “the king of Austin music”, as “better than everybody else”, Billy Harvey knows exactly his place and doesn’t give a damn about what anyone else thinks. The original ‘Pie’ was crafted while Harvey was a part of Schneider’s band, working on songs while travelling on the tour bus in 2003. It’s a shock to discover that this is the first of his eight albums – three of which have been released since 2015 – to make it into vinyl format, but with any luck it certainly won’t be his last. It’s no surprise that ‘Pie’ is the first however.
Although not his first long-player (‘Toast’ preceded it by a year), ‘Pie’ is certainly the “go to” album if you want to introduce someone to Harvey’s sound. His voice is compelling emotionally, drawing you in, teasing, letting you know all is right with the world, if only you let him tell you so. And the remastered on vinyl album version of ‘Pie’ will become even more of a first stop when discovering Harvey: it’s a treasure trove of surprises, with 10 exclusive tracks and versions of tracks, such as the writing demos of ‘Bluebird of Happiness’, and ‘Piggyback Ride’, the already coverd 2019 version of ‘Frozen Through’, two versions of ‘Stupid Daniel’ – the original version, and a demo, as well as an acoustic demo of ‘Invisible’, accompanied by its non acoustic demo partner. Other demos featured include ‘Like A Boy’, and ‘Dope Wings’, while the record also contains the original version of ‘Dealer Plates’.
Billy Harvey has ben skirting the fringes of mainstream acknowledgement for way too long, but with the reissue of this magnificent album, that state is about to change.
The remastered ‘Pie’ will be released digitally on June 28 through Palo Santo Records, while you can find out more information about the vinyl version on Billy Harvey’s Kickstarter page. Find Billy Harvey online on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
https://soundcloud.com/palo_santo_records/billy-harvey-pie-13-frozen-through-2019-version
