On Late Style, I really enjoyed the playful recording and subsequent live versions of “Come Back Yesterday”, particularly in the context of its lyrics, and I wanted more of that protest, so this time it’s “I Say Lots of Things” and the less fun “Thoughts and Prayers” - protest from two different angles because some things are so grim you can’t make fun of them and some things are so ludicrous that comedy is the only possible response.

The song is a samba, nudged in the direction of Brazilian fusion, Airto and so forth - all great CTI stuff (and his album Fingers is extremely good.) Our drummer for almost all of the record, Stéphane San Juan (currently on tour with David Byrne, I think?) is a master of this style and was very helpful in us nailing it, dissecting the bass part and kinda writing a new one with Eddie on the spot, where the stress is on the 2. And on the percussion, another master, Gustavo di Dalva, who’s played with Gilberto Gil (featured in my song “Making Love to Bob Dylan”, btw.) We were exceptionally fortunate in our musicians on this record, particularly in moments when we were trying to do something ambitious. This song sounds like the beach to me. I love Marcos Valle and in my mind it sounds like something you might hear on one of his records. I mean, it doesn’t sound like that. But in my mind it does. Joe Gore delivers the blistering solo.

Photo by Ilya Mirman
Design by Morgan Narkiewicz