If ever you wanted to set the scene for a song with just a few sonic strands, you could learn a lot about how to do so from the opening of Gordy Murphy’s latest single, “Leather Cigarette.” It’s not so much that the intro lines the song up, more that it transports you to a smoky, dimly lit, late-night basement bar, providing the backdrop for its tale.
And through this nicotine haze comes a laid-back beat and languid coils of guitar, seductive sonics, and Murphy’s part-whispered, part-spoken, part-sung vocals —the perfect psychedelic, rock-noir soundtrack for the time and place.
The song makes an argument for living a life of sin; it’s a celebration of the lifestyle of the creatures of the night, inspired by a real-life, fleeting encounter.
“Leather Cigarette is about the limitations of making rational choices,” Murphy explains. “I was thinking about a time in New Orleans when a girl came out of a bar, lit a cigarette, and started up her El Camino… the rumble of the V8, the smoke curling out of the window. It was like the clearest argument I’ve ever seen for living a life of sin.”
So, what are you going to do? Buy another drink? Jump in the passenger seat of that car and head off down a different path into the unknown, or head home to the comfort and conformity of your normal life; after all, you do have work in the morning. Time to roll the dice! Time to live a little!
