November 30, 2011

Favorites: Steve Salett's Poison Tree

As folks start to think about their favorite records of the year, I wanted to shine the spotlight again on one of my own favorites which has unfortunately flown a bit under the radar: Steve Salett's project The Poison Tree. Salett—who also wrote one of the year's best tracks in The Bandana Splits' "Sometimes"—quietly released an intimate treasure last winter sparsely colored with bits of acoustic guitar, upright bass, and jazz-flavored horns. Here's what I wrote back in January:

"The songs on Steve Salett's debut as The Poison Tree are in no hurry to get anywhere. Slow burning and endlessly pondering—like a late night candlelit conversation over a bottle of whiskey—the former frontman of The King of France delivers a collection of stories with his gently emotive and seductive baritone that recalls fellow singer-songwriter greats Leonard Cohen and Bill Callahan. Salett (or, as he refers to himself, Salad) enlisted several excellent New York musicians for the recording process, including Dawn Landes and Thomas Bartlett, and their combined expert execution is evident through each carefully constructed track. Look out for the official release in March on Embarque."

The Poison Tree - "Never Know Me" 
The Poison Tree - "Come On, Come On"
The Poison Tree - "My Only Friend"

The King of France

2 comments:

  1. Definitely going to include this on my top ten, Can't believe I'm just hearing it now

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  2. It went really under the radar. not sure why. it's fantastic.

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