Richard Swift: “Broken Finger Blues”
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Richard Swift is not your typical singer-songwriter. He first made his name singing Tin Pan Alley-influenced pop songs, but the past few years have found him branching out into a number of different directions. In 2008 he released a fiery garage-rock EP called Richard Swift As Onassis that showed off Swift’s rock and roll side, but he followed that up with an album by Instruments of Science & Technology, his experimental electronica side project. These varying shifts in style make some sense given his knack as a producer, which requires a well-tuned ear like Swift’s.
Recently, Swift has produced efforts by The Mynabirds and Damien Jurado, both of which benefit greatly from Swift’s obsession with analog recording equipment. His recordings, both behind the glass and as an artist, have an old energy to them that make the songs sound out of place. That’s certainly the case with “Broken Finger Blues,” a soulful-yet-eerie new song from Swift that he recorded after getting a cast off his broken finger. The track isn’t associated with a new album yet, but that just makes the loneliness stand out even stronger. Take a listen to “Broken Finger Blues” below.
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