Sean Bones’ debut album was heavily influenced by reggae. This new single’s greatest inspiration was Brooklyn’s seemingly endless winter, and a preset on a decades-old drum machine. Says Bones:

This winter I fought off the nasty weather with a drum machine. I got this old wooden Hammond thing in the fall, and I’d hide out in my draughty bedroom at night, meditating on tonal beats while winter buried my van and ripped leaves from the trees. After a period of falling asleep to its punchy tick tock on the bedside table, song skeletons started to take shape in my dreams. Specifically a melodic “Latin” setting started to infect my day like all the nose blowers at work. Soon I was sick. And I was coughing in time. I called my brother to come over with his bass and we blasted our new song out the window until the snow started to melt. That’s how I made the spring happen on my street.

Sounds like Bones and his cough both got productive. And check the line “I’m gonna catch whatever you’ve got.” Sickness affected and infected his lyrics here as well. “Rhumba Beat”‘s watery lead guitar and organ almost obscure the titular beat, before it changes entirely during the second half of the single. Maybe “Rhumba Beat” signals outdoor activity weather, but it briefly hints at a darkened dancefloor as well.

• Sean Bones – “Rhumba Beat”Download

The “Rhumba Beat” single is out 4/13 via Frenchkiss Records.

04/07 – New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
04/14 – Toronto, Ontario @ Lee’s Palace
04/15 – Ann Arbor, MI @ Blind Pig
04/16 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
04/17 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Cafe
04/19 – Aspen, CO @ Belly Up
04/20 – Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre
04/22 – Boise, ID @ The Neurolux
04/23 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
04/24 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
04/28 – Lawrence, KS @ Jackpot Music Hall
04/29 – Indianapolis, IN @ Locals Only
04/30 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Garfield Artworks