New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The Lumineers' co-founder, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Jeremiah Fraites has announced announced a new EP titled Piano Piano (Acoustic) will release on April 16th through Dualtone Records (an Entertainment One Company) in the U.S./Canada and Mercury KX for the rest of the world. The seven-song collection features live versions of songs that appear on his recently released solo debut album along with a pair of solo instrumental cover songs. Today he shared his rendition of Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" as a tribute to the late Kurt Cobain on the anniversary of his death.
"Out of all Nirvana's songs, 'Heart-Shaped Box' is my favorite," stated Fraites. "I remember listening to this song in the car while riding to middle school with my Mom. I think it has one of the strongest melodies ever written. I did my best to honor this song, especially on this day of remembrance as it marks the anniversary of his death. Rest In Peace Kurt."
Of the EP, he continued, "I wanted to record a handful of songs from my album Piano Piano live and purely on piano, so you guys could hear them as I heard them when I was writing them. Please enjoy these 'acoustic' renditions of my songs and a couple of covers."
Fraites' stunning cover of Billie Eilish's "when the party's over" is also out now, watch his performance now.
Fraites released his solo debut album Piano Piano earlier this year, an achingly gorgeous collection of intimate, piano-centric instrumental songs that he had been working on for the better part of a decade. Emotionally direct yet profoundly revealing, Fraites' songwriting reaches into deeply personal spaces with moving grace and stark elegance. It retains the folk-inspired melodicism so familiar from his work in The Lumineers, yet transports it into a more classically sophisticated setting.
Upon its release, Piano Piano debuted at #1 on Billboard's Classical Crossover Chart, #1 on Current Classical Sales Chart, and #6 on the Indie Current Albums chart. It also reached #1 on the iTunes Classical Top Albums chart, #1 on Amazon Classical Sales Chart, and #3 on Apple
Music Classical. NPR's Weekend Edition raved, "So many of these songs have a hypnotic quality...an intimacy...I feel my blood pressure going down just listening." Denver Post also called it "A welcome respite from the noise of the world," while American Songwriter claimed "Piano Piano reveals more facets of [Fraites'] talents."
