Patti Smith Releases New Live at Electric Lady EP

Patti Smith has released a new seven-song EP. Live at Electric Lady was recorded at the famed New York studio in partnership with Spotify. It marks Smith’s first new solo recording since her 2012 studio album Banga. Listen to the full EP below.

Smith’s new record includes live renditions of her own songs like “Ghost Dance” and “Broken Flag,” and “Birdland” (which was captured in one take), as well as covers of Bob Dylan’s “One Too Many Mornings” and Stevie Wonder’s “Blame it on the Sun.”

“We are very proud to be part of Spotify’s Live at Electric Lady series, our favorite recording studio,” Patti Smith said in a press release. “It was a unique challenge and offered us an exciting and innovative platform. We are grateful to Spotify for their generous support and willingness to present a live performance with all its possibilities of risk and revelation.”

Electric Lady’s GM/Partner Lee Foster added:

Prior to recording, I had been discussing cover song options to present to Patti with Tony Shanahan, Patti’s MD and longtime bassist/pianist. We’d yet to mention to Patti that we’d hoped to record a cover during the session, so she was unaware at the time. Days went by and Tony and I couldn’t find the right song together. Then, as we’d just begun to agonize over it, he called me excitedly and asked “is ‘Blame It on the Sun’ from Talking Book [Stevie Wonder’s 1972 album recorded at Electric Lady]?” I looked quickly to confirm and told him yes. For no reason at all that morning Patti had texted him to say that the song was stuck in her head and that she wanted the band to learn it. Kismet.

Spotify and Electric Lady Studios announced their Live at Electric Lady EP series in July. The series will feature releases by Japanese Breakfast, Faye Webster, Bleachers, Remi Wolf, Natalie Bergman, and more. Jon Batiste issued the first EP in the series, which landed last month.

Patti Smith was slated to co-headline Central Park’s “We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert” last weekend, but the event was cut short due to inclement weather. Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, the Killers, and Paul Simon did not get to perform their scheduled sets.

Check out Pitchfork’s “Patti Smith Played a Show in Brooklyn—Here’s What That Looked Like.”