’99’ is the second single taken from Harper Simon’s new album ‘Division Street’, produced by Tom Rothrock (Elliott Smith, Beck) via Play It Again Sam on April 1st 2013.
‘Division Street’ is a departure for Simon: it features a sound that’s much more driven by electric guitars than his alt country-flavoured debut. “The mission was to make the kind of Rock ‘n’ Roll record I would want to listen to myself,” he says. “Which sounds simple but is, in fact, incredibly difficult.”
Simon co-produced Division Street with Tom Rothrock, who produced three albums for Elliott Smith (‘Either/Or’, ‘XO’ and ‘Figure 8’) and Beck’s first album ‘Mellow Gold’, among others. As the team worked, the album’s sound grew rougher around the edges. “I felt challenged and inspired by the idea of making a modern psychedelic folk-rock album, a Tom Rothrock production like ‘XO’, but then the Velvet Underground and the Stones kept entering in,” says Simon. “Elliott Smith was very influenced by the Beatles but my guitar playing is more influenced by Keith Richards. And I kept wanting to emphasize more lo-fi elements.”
‘Division Street’ was recorded with a small coterie of guest musicians—including Pete Thomas from Elvis Costello’s Attractions on drums, Nikolai Fraiture from The Strokes on bass, vocals by Inara George, Feist’s musical director Brian LeBarton playing synths, as well as Nate Walcott from Bright Eyes and Wilco’s Mikael Jorgensen. “I’m very lucky,” says Simon. “Everybody that we asked to come and guest on the record showed up.”
You can check out the single’s video below: