Steve Marion, the critically acclaimed – and completely wordless – songwriter and guitarist known as Delicate Steve, has released new album called Delicate Steve Sings on ANTI-. Is the album title a reference to the instantly recognizable “voice” of his guitar? Does he actually sing this time? Has he not been singing all along? That’s the crux of Sings — Marion is the rare guitarist where you can put on any of his records and know exactly who’s playing. In an indie rock landscape stuffed end-to-end with guitars and amplifiers, nobody else sounds like this.
That unique voice has kept Steve busy in an unpredictable variety of settings. The sheer spread of his work outside his own records — collaborating with Miley Cyrus and Paul Simon, playing in Amen Dunes and the Black Keys, and being sampled by Kanye — doesn’t mean Steve’s a chameleon. It means he’s singular.
One night while on a trip to Greece, Marion looked out over the sea while listening to Willie Nelson’s pop standards record Stardust, a cosmic epiphany washing over him about what his next record could be. Delicate Steve Sings is a record centered on channeling iconic voices with his guitar. In doing so, Marion is casting himself in the role of iconic singers like Willie who make standards their own. In the process, he reveals just how singular (dare we say iconic) that voice is. The guitar sings these songs — smoothly, sweetly, boldly, and on its own terms.
Delicate Steve Sings, was recorded with Jonathan Rado on bass, Kosta Galanopolous on drums, Renata Zeiguer providing strings, and co-writer Elliot Bergman. You can hear this team of exceptional musicians approach the album with the same smooth reverence you’d hear on something like Willie Nelson’s classic. Still, there’s a requisite subversiveness to what Marion’s doing here — though there are some covers, this isn’t a full-on standards album.
Earlier this week he is shared final single from the LP, a track called ‘Easy For You,’ which isn’t a cover of the Elvis song of the same name but was inspired by The King.
Marion says of the single:
My favourite part of ‘Easy For You’ is the end of it. I also appreciate a sparse sounding song. So I tried to make one. Elliot Bergman co-wrote this with me. Jonathan Rado and Kosta Galanopoulos are playing bass and drums on the live track, which was recorded to tape at Rado’s. Martin Bonventre is on rhodes, Renata Zeiguer is on strings and voice. This one was done in LA, NYC, upstate NY, and Long Beach, which is a good balance.
Praise for Delicate Steve:
“Steve Marion has become something you didn’t know you even needed in this day and age: a guitar hero…his luminous leads form the emotional undercurrent around which everything else flows.” – Pitchfork
“Delicate Steve slyly eludes generalizations…there’s no telling when a track will take an abrupt, peculiar tangent.” New York Times
“Delicate Steve’s music maintains the capacity to surprise…[his music] is bursting with eccentric ideas and curlicues that playfully threaten to unmoor any given song altogether.” – NPR
“There are few electric guitar masterminds putting their expertise to such unique ends as Steve Marion.” – Consequence
Delicate Steve – Delicate Steve Sings
Tracklist
- Cherry
- Baby
- I’ll Be There
- Easy For You
- Yesterday
- Medieval Eyes
- Wind Won’t Blow
- Stay With Me
- Walkin’
- These Arms of Mine
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