Stream: Jack Drag, ‘Little Lies’

Kevin Bronson on July 17th, 2018

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John Dragonetti hasn’t released any music under his Jack Drag moniker since 2002. It was right around that time he launched his on-again, off-again, on-again and now off-again relationship with Blake Hazard, which yielded three fine albums as the Submarines. Since his split with his wife, Dragonetti has concentrated on composing for film and television (including scoring the comedy “All About Nina,” starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Common) and producing music for other artists.

Jack Drag resurfaces on Sept. 14 with the new full-length “2018,” being released via Burger Records. The first single “Little Lies” is a classic pop gem in the vein of ’60s/’70s revivalists (such as L.A.’s Freedom Fry) who trade in sanguine melodies and wistful flourishes. So come for the strings and subtle contemporary production touches and stay for Aimee Mann on “Little Lies,” which also features 22-year-old singer-songwriter Dylan Gardner (whose first album Dragonetti produced).

“This is where I am right now and it’s something I needed to do on my own,” Dragonetti says of returning to his former self. “Which is sort of where I started in the first place. I think, ultimately, this is a hopeful record about moving forward. We go through these milestone relationships, new loves and experiences, growing older. It’s a lot, but we get through it. It’s not so much a break-up record as it is a post-break-up record.”

Burger is also releasing some of Jack Drag’s older material — including “Pop Spelled Backwards” from 1995.

||| Stream: “Little Lies”