One of the fascinating things about pop music is that it’s amazingly cyclical. Peter Salett’s new song “Vision Of The Sky” feels like a reprise of Al Stewart’s “Year Of The Cat” from nearly half a century ago.
Salett’s next two albums are both full-blown suites reminiscent of Brian Wilson’s Smile. They’ll be officially released on July 11, and “Vision Of The Sky” is a stellar preview of those ambitious works.
Salett is a New Yorker who moved to L.A. and had great success writing songs for movies like Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Edward Norton’s Keeping The Faith. He’s now back in Brooklyn – and “Vision Of The Sky” is about Brooklyn’s changing skyline. For decades, the borough had very few Manhattan-size skyscrapers, but that’s rapidly changing.
We caught up with Peter Salett as he gets ready for the formal introduction of Suite for the Summer Rain and Dance of the Yellow Leaf later this summer:
What’s the backstory on your new song “Vision Of The Sky”?
All around us in downtown Brooklyn, giant skyscrapers were appearing seemingly overnight. The top of a 65-storey tower was left unfinished for a while, and when the wind blew through it the most haunting, howling sound would float above the neighborhood. I couldn’t help thinking of those unfinished spaces that would one day be well lived in. I of course wanted the howling to end, but when the tower was finally fixed I missed the sound.
Your music is the essence of “sophisti-pop” – sophisticated melodies and chord progressions, etc. How can the streaming services like Spotify help support this kind of music?
Interesting question – not sure if I’m qualified to give Spotify advice on how to adjust their algorithm. I do know that categorizing my music within any specific genre has always been challenging. As an artist, creating something personal and unique is generally a goal, but works against the ‘what else does this sound like’ world of the streaming services.
Since you’ve had numerous songs placed in films and TV, do you have any upcoming sync placements on the horizon?
Not currently for film and TV, though I did score an audio docudrama called LEAD which recently premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and stars Cynthia Nixon, Alessandro Nivola and Merritt Wever.
What was your inspiration for starting The Hometown Project, which connects celebrities with local political candidates in their hometown area?
After the 2016 election I saw a lot of my well-known friends “tweeting to the wind” – meaning there was anger and energy but it wasn’t focused in any meaningful way. I was determined to do something and started to brainstorm ideas. In a conversation with an environmental activist, he mentioned that when Mark Ruffalo went back to Kenosha, Wisconsin to talk about environmental issues in his hometown, more people showed up than would have without his presence. A little light went off in my head and I thought, what if we could get Mark and people like him to elevate the platform of local candidates and causes. So many critical decisions are made at the local level, yet it gets very little attention, so a little bit of energy can go a long way.
