Yes friends, November did indeed spawn a monster. My first album of songs Not Even a Cup of Tea (or Smarty sings weird songs) is out now!
New album available on Bandcamp here: https://stevesmart.bandcamp.com/album/not-even-a-cup-of-tea-or-smarty-sings-weird-songs
Steve Smart has released six albums of poetry over the past two decades, but never an album of songs. Until now.
(dramatic pause)
Launched on November 17th, 2023 at Mamma Chen’s in Footscray, Victoria, Not even a cup of tea (or Smarty sings weird songs) is a hybrid ride of electro punk industrial jazz, and a little spoken word.
Leaning towards the comical and absurd (Music To Eat KFC With, Fun with the neighbours’ power tools – but not in an American Psycho way, and Meanwhile – yeah nah) the album still occasionally dives into something more heartfelt, such as the ballad To Hold Onto and the minimalist electro meditation A whole new mindset. And then sometimes it just goes flat out (Ten Cent Life, For Kathleen Hanna).
Produced (to paraphrase the great Lou Barlow) by Steve and Steve alone in his room, the album does feature guest vocals by Es Foong, aka Waffle Irongirl, on the tracks Que Sera Sera (Poet version) and the bonus track Shut Up Smarty remix.
Mostly eschewing traditional instruments (by ‘eschewing’ we mean Steve can’t play any of them) Not even a cup of tea features a mix of pre-programmed beats and samples with specially created samples made from fx’d vocal loops, an electric coffee grinder, a handbell, ambient Footscray neighbourhood sounds, the voice of a former U.S. White House attorney, some found laughter, and yes next door’s power tools recorded surreptitiously. There is some live drumming in the mix too.
It’s an album with a healthy sense of ‘what feels fun today?’, and hopefully that makes for a fun listen. It’s not polished. It was never supposed to be. It’s not gonna be everyone’s cup of tea. Hell, it’s not even a cup of tea.
Track listing
1 – Get a Great Effing Mind
2 – Meanwhile (yeah naah)
3 – For Kathleen Hanna
4 – Ten cent life
5 – Show me the way (to the next panic attack)
6 – Que Sera, Sera (Poet Version – with Es Foong)
7 – Hate Does Not Equate To Self-Respect
8 – Electro Blaze (you pissed on my socks)
9 – Fight or Flight
10 – Music to eat KFC with
11 – To Hold Onto
12 – Fun with the neighbours power tools – but not in an American Psycho way
13 – A whole new mindset
14 – *Bonus track with full album purchase* Shut Up Smarty remix (with Es Foong)
The first video
The lead single and first music video from Not even a cup of tea is Ten cent Life. A scrappy little slice of electro-punk and a deliberately homemade clip.
The second video
The latest track from Not even a cup of tea to get its very own video is Show me the way (to the next panic attack). If you just really want to see Steve hiding under a doona acting like a weirdo, this is the video for you.
And, yes, for those who have been counting, it’s the third video…
This one is The Ballad, To Hold Onto. It’s a sort of delicate number and the video has all the mood. Yes, all of it.
The audio liner notes
During the weeks leading up to the album launch, Steve recorded audio notes for each of the tracks. Stories about the process of creating each track and also the inspiration behind the lyrics. And sometimes he just went on a rant about KFC, or copyright jackals, or whatever he happened to find irritating that day. It adds a little something extra, something personal for the listener.
These audio recordings are housed on his Substack page.
https://blamesmarty.substack.com/
Mamma Chen’s Launch Photos by Michael Reynolds
Contact
email: notevenacupoftea@gmail.com