Derek Smith balances emotional depth with daydreamer vibes on ‘Obscura’
Boston singer-songwriter and Cosmic Vultures frontman
unveils a chilled-out atmospheric album July 12 via Oak Honest Records
OUT NOW: Listen to ‘Obscura’ via Spotify
New single ‘Everyday’ is now playing across all streaming platforms
BOSTON, Mass. [July 12, 2023] -- There is an old and oft-repeated age about songwriting, about how an artist has their entire life to write their first album, and then a very short time to craft the second. Derek Smith shrugs at the notion.
Following the release of March debut album Rubedo, the Boston singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist is back with his sophomore effort, a 10-track journey through emotions and experiences called Obscura. Led by June’s breezy chilled-out pop-rock single “Everyday,” Obscura – as an experience, as a journey, and as an album – hits the streams on Friday, July 12 via Vermont’s Oak Honest Records.
Churning out intricate songs like chapters in an overarching novel is nothing new for Smith, who as frontman of psychedelic funk band The Cosmic Vultures helped release full-length albums in 2018, 2020, and 2021. But the solo fire burns bright for the tireless songwriter, who from his home studio has amassed a few dozen compositions yearning for proper recording.
But he’s chosen 10 tracks here for Obscura that reflect a certain mood, a daydreamer’s album of songs that reflects his thoughts on our day-to-day lives – from the mundane daily occurrences that make up most of our living to the short bursts of joy that somehow peek past society’s clouds. Armed with his voice and guitar, Smith is backed by his trusted producer and longtime collaborator Jonathan Chesbro, who also mixed and mastered the album, as well as performing guitar on “Everyday”, and a host of collaborators who help bring his creative vision to life on select songs: guitarists Jeff Dafonte and Dylan Gagnon; bassists Steve Constantino and Michael Strakus; and percussionist and mixer Dalton DeLima.
“This record is very ‘glass half empty’. I have that specific outlook on life,” Smith says. “But I am not always a pessimistic person. I get into my moods and then I write. I don’t think I know what it’s like to write a song in a good mood. But I asked myself how I could tell a story with songs without having a linear storyline. I just wanted songs to fill gaps. If my brain was a puzzle, I needed to find the right pieces to make it feel like one complete thought. That is Obscura in a nutshell.”
Under that nutshell is a core outlook that helps shape Smith’s songwriting. From sarcasm to satire, to looking at how society has devolved and wondering what the hell is going on and looking inward at what’s happened to himself, Smith takes inspiration from everything around him. The good, the bad. The positive, the negative. There may be ugliness that he draws inward, but the end result – whether the ethereal presence of “Salem” that recalls Jeff Buckley or Richard Ashcroft; the loose playfulness of “Dear Boy”; or atmospheric album closer “Chasing Rainbows” – is something outwardly beautiful.
“I’ll tell you what though,” Smith admits. “I am the most flawed person ever. I am a walking contradiction. And I admit that. Apparently 36 years old is the start of the bitterness you begin to feel towards certain things [laughs]. Those seem like the main lyrical themes throughout the record. However, there are some songs that are specific to people and places. ‘Salem’ is obvious. It’s a blatant love affair with a town. ‘Dear Boy’ is about a friend. I really like the ending of ‘Chasing Rainbows’. It kind of feels like things are coming full circle on this record. We start with ‘Everyday’ and this mundane lifestyle and in the end with ‘Chasing Rainbows’, I’m just daydreaming again.”
“Everyday,” in particular, was chosen specifically as an introduction to Obscura both on the merits of its sound and style but also lyrical subject matter. The seeds of the single were first planted as Smith grabbed his guitar and started playing a G note to an A note over and over. When he returned to the song, he realized the melody was stuck in his head, and the simplicity and repetitiveness of the two notes lent itself to a theme of routine – one we play out each and every day without realizing it.
“We wake up, go to work, come home tired, eat dinner, watch TV and go to bed,” Smith says. “It’s actually quite scary. I imagine this guy living in a village where every day, he wakes up, meets his friends and they go down to the river. It almost doesn’t even matter what they do down there. But he goes there with them because that’s his life. Because that’s what they do. He’s a follower and he belongs somewhere. But it’s sad and mundane. Toward the end of the song, I change up the note sequence – like maybe there’s a chance for tomorrow to be different, but then it resolves with the same two notes. All I know in this world is that sometimes you have to step out of your comfort zone to see what you’re really made of. The song sounds upbeat and friendly and that is why it was chosen as the single. But it’s anything but that. It’s a little sarcastic.”
That’s as much as Smith likes to reveal about his songwriting, instead hoping the listener applies their own interpretations and feelings to his words and playing. Even the album’s title – Obscura – complete with its artwork depicting a burst of colorful, kaleidoscopic dust emanating from a center explosion, like a release of feelings or ideas – plays into this notion.
People express how they feel in all kinds of ways; I express everything through songwriting,” Smith reveals. “I almost wanted to go out of my way to come up with a word that makes this record seem artistic, but also a little sarcastic. I like buying records that have hidden meanings you have to unravel. There are tons of hidden meanings in these songs. I hate making things super clear. Life is completely obscure. Maybe it isn’t though? I couldn’t say ‘Obscurish’; so instead I went with Obscura.”
And so as the album title suggests something that on the surface may seem a certain way, but a deeper look, and in this case, a deeper listen, brings out something a bit more intentional. As Smith’s potential songs pile up and he’s tasked with determining how they connect to each other in forming a collection of songs one can describe as a proper album, he’s satisfied with these 10 telling his story at this specific point in time. Another new album may arrive in a few months, or it may not. That’s a decision for another day.
“With Rubedo, I feel like my producer Jonathan Chesbro and I were scratching the surface of a specific sound,” Smith concludes.” We never really envisioned things being crisp and perfect. Because I am none of those things. But I wanted to make sure Obscura had a different feel. I wanted to use harmonies as much as I could and play with more string type instruments such as violin and cello. Obscura feels like the necessary second step in my solo journey.”
***
‘Obscura’ album artwork:
Design Credit: Derek Smith
***
‘Obscura’ track listing:
‘Everyday’
‘Salem’
‘Sound’
‘Dear Boy’
‘If Yellow was Gold’
‘Cut the Rope’
‘Lonely River’
‘Scarlet’
‘Write it in Blood’
‘Chasing Rainbows’
***
‘Obscura’ album credits:
All songs written by Derek Smith
Produced, mixed, and mastered by Jonathan Chesbro
Derek Smith: Vocals and rhythm guitar
Jonathan Chesbro: Guitar on “Everyday”
Jeff Dafonte: Lead guitar on “Everyday”, “Salem”, “Sound”, “If Yellow Was Gold” and “Cut the
Rope”
Steve Constantino: Bass on “Everyday” and “Salem”
Michael Strakus: Bass on “Sound”
Dylan Gagnon: Lead Guitar on “Chasing Rainbows”
Dalton DeLima: Mixing on “Sound” and Percussion on “Dear Boy”
***
SPOTIFY . AMAZON . APPLE . INSTAGRAM . FACEBOOK . YOUTUBE . LINKTREE
