With “It’s about a prostitute … Don’t tell anyone” as a subject line, it’s hard to believe Jody Porter’s email pitch didn’t get lost in our spam folder. Though we must say we were intrigued.
“Eleanor was a dancer who lived in the apartment above me,” says Porter of the unsuspecting muse for his new single. “She hit all the parties and often brought the dancing back to her pad. She had many boyfriends.”
Best known for his tenure as the lead guitarist for Grammy-nominated power-pop crossovers Fountains Of Wayne, Porter has played with everyone from the Monkees, David Mead and Jesse Malin to Albert Hammond Jr., Ivy and Juliana Hatfield. He’s also kept intermittently busy as a solo artist since 2008. “Eleanor’s Orbit” is a provocative teaser for his sixth LP, the self-released Elysian Street, which is expected this fall. Porter’s latest music nicely balances the psych-rock tendencies of his first band, the Belltower, with the effervescent guitar-driven hooks of FOY.
“On this record, I found myself writing about people I know and observations I’ve made from afar,” says Porter. “A lot of the themes have to do with this elysian grid we live on. I suppose we’re all handling this U.S. shitshow as best we can and trying to make change. But the character in ‘Eleanor’s Orbit’ just wants to dance and shag.”
We’re proud to premiere Jody Porter’s “Eleanor’s Orbit.”
—Hobart Rowland
