In his new single, "Paper Cigarette," Texas-bred Canadian musician Scott Klein has crafted a cinematic landscape where American grit meets European melancholy. It's a song that feels like drifting through the smoke-hazed hallways of your own memory romantic, raw, and a little risky. Transpired in Paris, "Paper Cigarette" has the olfactory scent of a city famous for romance and disillusion. You can practically taste the Seine breeze as Klein unfurls a tale of lust and detachment, his voice filled with longing and unlit desire. The song lingers like a memory you never wanted, yet secretly, hope never truly goes away.
The production is really a tale of two cities. The song's spark was struck in France, but its sound blossomed deep in the heart of Texas. Recorded at Austin's Timeless Echo Recordings, "Paper Cigarette" was formed by Chris Booshada, a RIAA Gold certified sound sculptor for Shakey Graves. Co-produced by Jonathan Tyler, who has worked with Nikki Lane and Paul Cauthen, among others, the song is the type of aural stamp of approval that not only serves Klein's vision but also elevates it. "Paper Cigarette" mixes the aching openness of indie pop with the ghostly darkness of Southern Gothic and the calm confidence of alternative rock.
The guitars shimmer, the percussion throbs like a heartbeat, and Klein's vocals are soaked in atmosphere, never reaching too far but somehow always reaching enough. This is a spell. Klein is evident that he has an instinct for riding emotional opposites, making the New Wave sound like it was born in the desert and making Americana sound like it was raised in the poetry of France. In "Paper Cigarette," Scott Klein welcomes you into a smoky room where beauty and self-destruction dance together. It's haunting, it's sultry, it's a repeat play waiting to happen.
Discover Scott Klein on Instagram