La Santa Cecilia cover Bessie Smith, take Tin Pan Alley-turn on new single

Watch the live video for “Nobody Knows When You’re Down and Out” HERE, and listen HERE

“Nobody Knows When You’re Down and Out,” the second song from LA’s GRAMMY-winning, wildly eclectic Bolero-punk, bossa-nova-soul quartet La Santa Cecilia’s upcoming album produced by Sebastian Krys (other credits include Elvis Costello, Shakira, Luis Fonsi), ‘La Santa Cecilia’ (October 18th, Rebeleon / Universal), is out today. A jazzy, vaudeville-in-SoCal take on the 1929 Bessie Smith classic written by Jimmy Cox, the track (recorded with the band’s friends, the NOLA-inspired jazz band The California Feetwarmers) will be followed by a Hollywood Bowl show tomorrow, August 24th. A triumphant return to the iconic venue for the band that once described their sound, simply, as “Los Angeles,” LSC will perform the tracks off their new album to a hometown audience for the first time ever.

Watch the live video HERE

Listen to the track HERE

A love-letter to drunken nights shared out in LA (often with the California Feetwarmers, and often ending with hazy renditions of Bessie Smith), “Nobody Knows’” laissez-faire style is a representation of La Santa Cecilia’s “bohemios” ethos. And on an album written in a year of and inspired by tragedy (three of the four band member’s fathers recently passed away), it’s a testament to persistence and the pleasures of life. 

“Nobody Knows” follows first track “Winning,” which earned praise from NPR Music (“[on this track] La Santa Cecilia is the rare act that earns words like delightful”), KCRW, Billboard, Rolling Stone, and more, for its clever lyrics about the overbearingness of social media and faux activism, and its acoustic, Pixies-esque surf-rock that turns into “a big-budget new wave explosion” (LA Times) at its irresistible chorus. Together, “Nobody Knows” and “Winning’s” very distinct sounds and vibes give a preview into the sonic breadth featured on the new album.

Blessed by their namesake La Santa Cecilia (the patron saint of music), accordionist and requinto player Jose “Pepe” Carlos, bassist Alex Bendaña, percussionist Miguel “Oso” Ramirez, and La Marisoul have collaborated with Elvis Costello, Los Lobos, and John Paul Jones, won the GRAMMY for Best Latin Rock Album, and played the likes of the Hollywood Bowl and Walt Disney Concert Hall. Starting with their Hollywood Bowl show, they’ll be playing select dates nationwide in support of their new album.