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ancaster, PA-based singer-songwriter Jessica Smucker is gearing up for the release of a new single, an irrepressibly catchy slice of synth pop called “Dinosaurs.” The song balances melodic buoyancy provided by her five-piece band, with markedly darker themes that reflect a nagging sense of despair for a future that to her resembles a “slow-rolling apocalypse.” Indeed, the song wastes no time illustrating that fact as the opening lyric reads: “I thought the world would end in blood and bones…” Dark stuff for sure, but the song is not without a sense of optimism as well. Ultimately, Smucker chooses living in the moment and embracing the hope found in nurturing a home and family and finding a fragile peace. “Dinosaurs” will be released digitally on August 13.
Recorded at Kinsey Audio in Lancaster, PA and co-produced by Chad Kinsey and Matt Thomas, “Dinosaurs” features Thomas on synthesizers and organ, Mike Bitts (The Innocence Mission) on bass, and Paul Murr (Jeffrey Gaines, Fauna Flora) on drums. Megan Woodland Hewitt (The Wild Hymns) and Keith Wilson (Movies With Heroes) provide layered vocal harmonies and counter-melodies. The track was mixed by sound engineer and singer-writer Steve Ward (Cherry Twister), and mastered by Grammy-nominated sound engineer Philip Shaw Bova (Feist, Devendra Banhart, Angel Olsen).
The video, showcasing a stylized and slightly surreal version of her home life, was directed by Joe Terranova and produced by Reverie.
Says Smucker: “When I look at the big picture of the world, everything feels ominous and doomed like a slow-rolling apocalypse, and yet my life in its everyday moments really isn’t so bad. I have people to love, songs to write, air to breathe – and every last bit of it is as fleeting and impermanent as it was always going to be. Maybe the dinosaurs lived full, happy lives for centuries after their doom was sealed. And what can any of us do but keep living and loving and pursuing our dreams…until we can’t? This may sound like pessimism to some, but to me it’s the opposite. It’s hope. It’s letting go of the controls and saying to the universe…Whatever’s going on right now, I’m here for it.
