Peter Salett’s newest batch of music has been a long time coming. A fixture of the New York City music scene in the 1990s, the singer/songwriter/composer caught his first big-screen break in 2000, when his song, “Heart Of Mine,” was featured in the Edward Norton/Ben Stiller comedy Keeping The Faith. His work in movies continued with another Norton film, Down In The Valley, in 2005 and Forgetting Sarah Marshall a few years later, with at least a half-dozen other placements to follow.
Not long after leaving Los Angeles and returning to Brooklyn in 2011, Salett started work on the song cycle that would eventually become his upcoming double LP, Suite For The Summer Rain/Dance Of The Yellow Leaf (Dusty Shoes).
“Throughout these two records, I wanted the push/pull of organic tempos, guided only by how my original guitar and vocal performances moved,” says Salett of his first new music in 15 years. “String arranger/performer Chris Carmichael does an incredible job adding his harmonic and emotional layering, essentially being conducted by the guitar and voice and moving in time with them.”
New single “Suddenly The Leaves” is a fittingly cinematic balance of classic folk delicacy and surging strings. “The song speaks to the moment of transition when you feel like you’re being awakened to the world around you—and wanting to stay in that moment as long as possible, while realizing that it’s disappearing at the same time,” Salett says. “I fully realize most people want to listen to snippets of things these days. These longform pieces are meant to inspire the opposite. In a way, they’re what I’m calling ‘cinematic adjacent.’”
Suite For The Summer Rain/Dance Of The Yellow Leaf is due July 15. In the meantime, we’re proud to premiere “Suddenly The Leaves.”
—Hobart Rowland
