Jo
Harrop, Lady Blackbird (vocals); Deron Johnson (piano,
Mellotron); Jonathon Flaugher (bass); Denny Weston Jr. (drums, perc.)
The first single from the forthcoming album Love Now Pay Later
Smoke Inside a Jar perfectly captures the confidence of Harrop’s new direction. Rich, cinematic and deeply soulful, it possesses a timeless quality that feels completely authentic rather than nostalgic.
The inspiration for the song arrived during an evening at Dizzy’s Club in New York. Harrop watched an Old Fashioned make its journey to the table beneath a glass dome filled with fragrant wood smoke. As the dome was lifted, the smoke, scented by smouldering wood chips, danced and curled around the glass for a few fleeting seconds before quietly dissolving into the room as though it had never existed. It was a beautiful piece of theatre, but it also became impossible not to see the parallel. Some relationships are just as beautiful and just as fragile, surviving only while the conditions are exactly right. Change those conditions and, like the smoke itself, they simply disappear. That fleeting moment became the emotional heartbeat of one of the album’s most captivating songs.
Produced and co-written by Chris Seefried, the arrangement unfolds with remarkable patience. There is no unnecessary drama, only a slow-building sense of tension that allows the lyric to breathe. Drawing on the warmth and sophistication of classic sixties soul, Seefried creates a sound world that is elegant, spacious and quietly cinematic without ever feeling like an exercise in nostalgia.
Harrop’s vocal is beautifully judged. She never overplays the emotion, allowing every phrase to carry its own weight through subtlety rather than theatricality. That restraint has always been one of her greatest strengths, and here it proves especially effective. Every line feels conversational, every emotion believable.
The arrival of Lady Blackbird
transforms an already captivating performance into something genuinely
memorable. Rather than appearing as a guest vocalist for effect, she becomes
another character within the story. Her unmistakable voice adds depth, texture
and contrast, creating a dialogue that feels completely organic. The two
singers weave around one another beautifully, each leaving space for the other
while adding another emotional layer to the song.
The musicians deserve enormous credit for creating such an atmospheric backdrop. Jonathon Flaugher’s bass anchors the performance with warmth and quiet authority, while Deron Johnson colours the arrangement with understated piano and Mellotron that seem to drift around the vocal rather than compete with it. Denny Weston Junior’s drums and percussion are beautifully restrained, providing movement without ever disturbing the song’s fragile atmosphere.
Recorded at Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood and engineered by Seth Atkins Horan, the recording has an intimacy that places the listener almost inside the performance. Every instrument occupies its own space, allowing the smallest details to emerge naturally. Nothing feels crowded, and nothing feels accidental. Glenn Wright
Release date: July 26.
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