The new rock ‘n’ roll ballad “SMOKIN’ ” from Charleston rock band The Simplicity may sound like an excuse to keep a bad habit.
“It’s a love song about a bad thing,” frontman John Bias told the Charleston City Paper. “I think it’s fun to write stuff like that. It’s really just about my relationship with cigarettes. It’s one of the first songs we recorded for the new record. And it’s definitely a harbinger of what the new record sounds like.”
“SMOKIN’ ” is the second single off the band’s sophomore album slated for release in 2024, and it followed the June release of the first single “PAIN RELIEVER FEVER REDUCER.”
While the band started out in 2019 as a three piece with Bias, drummer Drew Lewis and bassist Tommy Merritt, “SMOKIN’ ” delivers a broader, fuller Simplicity experience with fills from keyboardist Paul Chelmis of local alternative band Human Resources, guitarist Connor Hollifield of local rock band Hollifield and guitarist James Rubush of local band Little Bird.
The song’s reclined tempo lolls and twangs as Bias’ bellowing vocals eventually descend into raspy, manic shouts backed by spiraling electric distortion. He sings: “Five more dollars for 20 new friends / Burning the midnight candle at both ends / They don’t mind when I scream and shout / They help me keep the light on when it burns out.”
There will be more singles dropped before the release of the new album, which was recorded with Charleston producer Wolfgang Zimmerman at The Space. The Simplicity’s debut record DAHLIN’, which was released on Valentine’s Day 2022, was also a product of The Space.
“We definitely have more to say,” Merritt said of the band’s coming album. “The performances of the songs and the content is definitely more actualized. I think with DAHLIN,’ we were just seeing what we can get away with and what works.”
“It’s definitely a little more fleshed out,” Lewis added. “Some of the songs that are going to be coming out, we tried to do them live as a three piece, and it always felt like something was missing.”
The Simplicity was also joined in the studio by cellist Claire Allen and keyboardist Noah James to build a dynamic sound for the 2024 record.
Keeping the train rolling
No matter what form The Simplicity has taken on over the years, what keeps it going is a love for collaboration.
“Being in a band is like being in a marriage,” Lewis said. “Every band is a little different. But this one is a little more like a family. We’ve been in it for a while, and it can get a little messy at times. But it’s one of those things that you can always just be yourself, and you can be honest. It feels very safe in some ways.”
The Simplicity’s sound is intended to be a jolt to the system or a kick in the teeth, Bias said. And while the act’s current sound may differ from the older stuff, it’s just an upgraded, more detailed version.
“I don’t think we would ever get into anything other than just straight up rock ‘n’ roll,” Bias said. “It’s the only thing that the three of us totally agree on — it’s pretty natural.”
Merritt added, “I think it’s definitely more accessible, and I think Bias’ songwriting is getting a little bit more vulnerable as well. We’re not writing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ but [the sound] is a little deeper.”
The Simplicity has always considered itself a live act with an impassioned unpredictability rather than a recording project.
“We’ve been playing these songs for so long,” Bias said, “that now we’ve gotten to the point where it’s like, we don’t even talk about things happening, and they just happen
— and it ends up being part of the song.”
Don’t miss The Simplicity with Hollifield on the Pour House deck stage Nov. 18 as part of the Beachtown Weekend event with Philadelphia-born rock act Mo Lowda & The Humble, Virginia-based rock duo Illiterate Light and Charleston indie band Brave Baby.
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