Singer-songwriter, Spencer Day, is back with his hotly anticipated new album, The Mystery of You, due out March 12th on Concord Records. Veering into what he calls a “darker territory” than fans might expect on his first LP in three years, Day elicits his prodigious talents to examine love and loss in all of its crippling vicissitude. Yet the legion of supporters who’ve followed the handsome rising star for nearly a decade now need not worry, The Mystery Of You still enlists the up tempo jazz-pop sound and cinematic spirit that have made Spencer Day so successful.
While fans might be surprised to find their effervescent troubadour examining the darker side of his personality, Day couldn’t help but acknowledge this aspect of human nature after quite a difficult break-up. The Mystery Of You finds him drawing comparisons between crimes of the heart, and crimes against the law. Songs such as “Shadow Man” have an admittedly Film-Noir-ish vibe, probing the murkier corners of humanity in the vein of some of the classics of that genre like The Lady From Shanghai.
A lifelong cinephile, Day evokes the dark beauty of one of his favorite film styles to imbue the disk’s 12 songs with the bleak, claustrophobic feel of heartbreak. Yet Day is no cynic, and he also peppers the songs with nods to another genre of iconic Hollywood films- the Spaghetti Westerns. Famous themselves for soundtracks that expertly blended Americana folk with Classical arrangements, films like The Good The Bad And The Ugly, inform not only the new record, but also his genre-busting live shows.
Yet despite the darker themes that populate The Mystery Of You, the album is still very much grounded in the jazz-pop melodies fans have come to love and expect from Spencer Day. Perhaps most influenced by his love of the music of the early 60’s, the new album does find him atmospherically probing love and loss, but with the raw honesty and strict adherence to melody and structure that artists such as Dusty Springfield brought to their craft.
Recorded in the Topanga Canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles, The Mystery Of You also reflects the easy-breezy creative spirit and natural charm of both its inspirational setting and its singer. A Roy Orbison for the new millennium, marching to the Ennio Morricone soundtrack in his head, Spencer Day continues to chart his own musical course. Pick up his new disk, out March 12th!
CLICK HERE to watch our exclusive interview with Spencer Day in Los Angeles.
CLICK HERE for Spencer Day’s official website.