Delicate Steve Announces New Album ‘After Hours’ & Shares Single

Renowned guitarist and producer Delicate Steve (Steve Marion) will issue a new album, After Hours, via ANTI- Records on July 8. Marion previewed the record with the single, “Street Breeze.”

Produced by Marion, After Hours is the follow up to Delicate Steve’s 2019 album Til I Burn Up, an LP that contained experimentation with electronics and sonic manipulation. After Hours, however, saw Marion returning to a more straightforward guitar approach, written and recorded entirely on a 1966 Fender Stratocaster.

An in-demand musician, Marion — who has recorded with Paul Simon and many others and performed live with Mac Demarco, Dr. Dog and many more — joined the Black Keys as a touring guitarist on their 2019 Let’s Rock Tour. Needing a reset and with the pandemic sidelining live music, Steve decamped to Tuscon, Arizona after which he found “the vintage Fender Stratocaster that would rekindle his romance” with the instrument.

“Up to that point, I’d always tried to push the sound of the guitar forward into unexplored territory,” Steve said. “But once I got my hands on that guitar, I started to realize that the most adventurous, unexpected thing I could do was just plug it into an amp and play. I wanted people to find comfort in the music, to find a home in it, because that’s what it did for me. It helped me finally find a home in the sound of the electric guitar.”

Steve also brought in some ace outside musicians for the first time on After Hours. The record contains contributions from bassist Shahzad Ismaily (Yoko Ono, Marc Ribot) and Brazilian percussionist Mauro Refosco (David Byrne, Atoms For Peace).

Addtinally, Marion detailed the new single, “Street Breeze,” stating:

“This song captures the feeling of stepping outside your door and onto the street, walking through a city with no destination in mind. When you have no destination in mind, you become open to the possibility of ending up anywhere. Usually that ends up being a good thing.”

“Street Breeze” arrived with a music video directed by Ramona Parrotta. Watch it below:

After Hours Tracklist

1. Playing in a Band
2. Street Breeze
3. I Can Fly Away
4. Now I Know
5. Looking Glass
6. Find My Way
7. After Hours
8. Artificial
9. Night Owl
10. Still Life

Delicate Steve is set for a residency at Brooklyn’s Union Pool this summer. Check out those tour dates: