[Cover photo credit to Bob Gruen]

Jeff Slate is New York-based frontman and songwriter where his band plays a monthly residency in Chelsea. His long history in music has brought him to his fourth solo album. Slate’s fourth solo album, The Last Day of Summer, features Dave Stewart, Duff McKagan, Earl Slick, members of Paul Weller’s band and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, and is due May 17th, 2024 via Schnitzel Records. The single “Till New York City Dies” is out today.

Slate came up in the mid-1980s US East Coast Post-Punk scene, playing CBGBs and other clubs of the day as the singer, guitarist and principal songwriter of The Mindless Thinkers. By the early ’90s, Slate was a solo artist who worked with The Who’s Pete Townshend, toured with Sheryl Crow and founded the band The Badge. The Badge released three albums of original material, as well as numerous singles, EPs and live releases, before going on hiatus.

Since then, Slate’s solo releases have appeared in advertising and films, and on television, includingGossip Girl. A regular guest host on SiriusXM, Slate is the co-author of the 2017 book The Authorized Roy Orbison, with the late-legend’s sons, and has written liner notes for albums by Orbison, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix, among many others.

Jeff shares about the new track:

‘Till New York City Dies’ was born during long, solitary walks around the City during the pandemic lockdown. The chorus came first, and of course anchors the song, but because the music had an unexpected bounce to it, it pointed the direction of the song in a positive direction, rather than somber or hopeless.

Strangely, because it was tracked individually, with all the players working to my acoustic guitar and voice, everyone seemed to know just what to do without me having to explain it. Ben Gordelier, the drummer from Paul Weller’s band, was first, and added a shuffle beat and upright bass that helped point the way, but his bandmate, Steve Cradock, Weller’s long-serving lead guitarist, chose to add piano, and his part lightened things even more.

Earl Slick’s country-tinged, Stonesy guitar, and the atmospheric parts that Leonard Cohen producer Don Miguel added were icing on the cake to the rest of the parts that co-producer Eric Lichter and I added, taking a sad song and making it better.