Spoon frontman Britt Daniel has previously tapped Austin's Sweet Spirit to back him up at solo gigs, and now he's keeping the partnership going by teaming up with the band for a new song entitled "Have Mercy."
Following a drum machine intro that sounds a hell of a lot like Fine Young Cannibals' "She Drives Me Crazy," it turns into a restrained synth-pop tune in which thick, atmospheric textures shift in and out of focus over a minimal groove and simple hooks.
Daniel explained the writing and recording process in a statement to Stereogum:
I went to Andrew's house to write with them [Sweet Spirit] one day. Andrew [Cashen] already had chords and a melody and he and I strummed it on guitar for a while. Meanwhile Sabrina [Ellis] was drinking, answering phone calls, smoking pot, writing emails, approving photos for an article on the band — she had plenty going on. But then she held up a sheet of paper with all the words on it and said "OK here it is, it's about birds." She'd been writing it while doing all the other stuff. And the fuck if they weren't amazing lyrics. So then we played the song with the words a few times and I did some harmonizing and Andrew recorded it on his phone. It sounded pretty laid back and country, so when Andrew told me a couple weeks later that he wanted it to be a drum machine and synthesizer song i was surprised. I got to Mike McCarthy's studio that afternoon at 5 and programmed a beat, Mike came up with some sounds, Jake played a dirty synth part, I sang harmonies and helped with the choral sounding vocals. It was my birthday so I split at 10:30 or so to go have a drink and Andrew stayed late and oversaw the strings get recorded. The whole thing was put to tape in a short day and then Mike and I mixed it the day after.
Scroll past Sweet Spirit's tour schedule to hear the song below. The band will be opening up for Spoon on a number of dates.
Tour dates:
04/23 Madison, WI - Mickey's Tavern
04/24 Minneapolis, MN - Shit Biscuit
04/25 Chicago, IL - The Burlington
04/26 Hamtramck, MI - New Dodge Lounge
04/27 Cleveland, OH - Happy Dog
04/28 New Brunswick, NJ - The Court Tavern
04/29 New York, NY - Cake Shop
04/30 Brooklyn, NY - Don Pedro's
05/01 Chapel Hill, NC - The Cave
05/02 Nashville, TN - The Basement East
05/04 Athens, GA - Flicker Theatre and Bar
05/06 Lafayette, LA - Artmosphere
05/07 Houston, TX - Continental Club
05/10 Austin, TX - Red 7
05/17 Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom *
05/18 Kansas City, MO - Midland *
05/19 Fargo, ND - Fargo Theatre *
05/21 Missoula, MT - Wilma Theater *
05/24 Vancouver, BC - Malkin Bowl *
05/25 Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory *
05/29 Oakland, CA - Fox Theater *
05/30 Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern *
06/01 San Diego, CA - North Park Theatre *
06/02 San Diego, CA - North Park Theatre *
* with Spoon
Following a drum machine intro that sounds a hell of a lot like Fine Young Cannibals' "She Drives Me Crazy," it turns into a restrained synth-pop tune in which thick, atmospheric textures shift in and out of focus over a minimal groove and simple hooks.
Daniel explained the writing and recording process in a statement to Stereogum:
I went to Andrew's house to write with them [Sweet Spirit] one day. Andrew [Cashen] already had chords and a melody and he and I strummed it on guitar for a while. Meanwhile Sabrina [Ellis] was drinking, answering phone calls, smoking pot, writing emails, approving photos for an article on the band — she had plenty going on. But then she held up a sheet of paper with all the words on it and said "OK here it is, it's about birds." She'd been writing it while doing all the other stuff. And the fuck if they weren't amazing lyrics. So then we played the song with the words a few times and I did some harmonizing and Andrew recorded it on his phone. It sounded pretty laid back and country, so when Andrew told me a couple weeks later that he wanted it to be a drum machine and synthesizer song i was surprised. I got to Mike McCarthy's studio that afternoon at 5 and programmed a beat, Mike came up with some sounds, Jake played a dirty synth part, I sang harmonies and helped with the choral sounding vocals. It was my birthday so I split at 10:30 or so to go have a drink and Andrew stayed late and oversaw the strings get recorded. The whole thing was put to tape in a short day and then Mike and I mixed it the day after.
Scroll past Sweet Spirit's tour schedule to hear the song below. The band will be opening up for Spoon on a number of dates.
Tour dates:
04/23 Madison, WI - Mickey's Tavern
04/24 Minneapolis, MN - Shit Biscuit
04/25 Chicago, IL - The Burlington
04/26 Hamtramck, MI - New Dodge Lounge
04/27 Cleveland, OH - Happy Dog
04/28 New Brunswick, NJ - The Court Tavern
04/29 New York, NY - Cake Shop
04/30 Brooklyn, NY - Don Pedro's
05/01 Chapel Hill, NC - The Cave
05/02 Nashville, TN - The Basement East
05/04 Athens, GA - Flicker Theatre and Bar
05/06 Lafayette, LA - Artmosphere
05/07 Houston, TX - Continental Club
05/10 Austin, TX - Red 7
05/17 Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom *
05/18 Kansas City, MO - Midland *
05/19 Fargo, ND - Fargo Theatre *
05/21 Missoula, MT - Wilma Theater *
05/24 Vancouver, BC - Malkin Bowl *
05/25 Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory *
05/29 Oakland, CA - Fox Theater *
05/30 Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern *
06/01 San Diego, CA - North Park Theatre *
06/02 San Diego, CA - North Park Theatre *
* with Spoon
