The title of James Ferraro's new album—NYC, Hell, 3AM—is probably his most evocative one to date, summoning indelible New York images of steaming manholes, rat-infested garbage cans and looming gothic skyscrapers. The famous Taxi Driver quote that he samples on his second trailer for the LP, below—"Some day a real rain will come and wash all the scum off the streets"—pretty sums up the vibe, as does the video's rubbernecking fixation with a burning car crash scene (the last trailer sampled news casts of September 11th coverage). Next to all this misery and chaos, this first single for the album feels like a balm for the senses, filling out the negative spaces between Ferraro's voice and sparse drums with a palette of lush strings and sinewy reeds. It doesn't necessarily sound out of character for an epic on the darker sides of New York City life—more like a single scene in a really depressing movie. NYC, Hell, 3AM is out October 15th via Hippos In Tanks.
