In House #1810: Richard Swift's Dressed Up For the Letdown; New Laura Veirs

The second full-length from singer-songwriter Richard Swift, entitled Dressed Up For the Letdown, drops tomorrow on Secretly Canadian. Swift charmed a couple of years back with the double release The Novelist/Walking Without Effort, which gathered his first two independently released efforts into one wonderfully-sounding package. This go around, he once again spins a flavor steeped heavily in retro pop influences, George Harrison to Tin Pan Alley. The thing is, it feels a bit disingenuous to slap a "retro" label on Swift-- there's no kitsch intended and none to be taken. Still, it's hard to shake the feeling that the music isn't coming from some long-lost, ahead of his time singer-songwriter, ala Nick Drake or, more recently, Karen Dalton. Songs like "Kisses For the Misses," and "The Songs of National Freedom," are instantly comfortable, inspiring false nostalgia even while sounding unique and based in the present. It's music that deserves to be lauded in its own time-- luckily Swift will be around to enjoy it. He tours the UK with labelmate David Vandervelde beginning in early March.

Richard Swift

In House #1810.
Airdate: 2/19/07
Focus: New release out tomorrow from Richard Swift, Dressed Up For the Letdown, plus new music from Laura Veirs, Bryan Ferry, Julie Doiron, and more.

BONUS MP3 and video-
Richard Swift, from Dressed Up For the Letdown:

"Kisses For the Misses" (MP3)

PLAYLIST

In House PODCAST #260