Bruce Hornsby and Bonnie Raitt go way back. Hornsby played piano on Raitt's ultra-classic 1991 ballad "I Can't Make You Love Me," and Raitt sang backing vocals on a couple of tracks from Hornsby's 1993 album Harbor Lights. Now they've reunited for a beautiful, charming, surprising single from Hornsby's forthcoming album Indigo Park.
"Ecstatic" is the album's second advance single following the title track. It's built around chants Hornsby heard frequently during his children's AAU basketball days: "That's right/ You walked/ You traveled and got caught" and "You fouled/ You did it/ Raise your hand, admit it." (Hornsby's son Keith played college ball for UNC Asheville and LSU and is currently a pro in Europe.)
The production is not at all what I expected from Hornsby, crystalline and electronic in a way I associate with genre-blurring festival acts like Haim and Mura Masa. Given the sonic texture and the Paul Simon-ish vocal melody, I'm surprised this isn't the Ezra Koenig collab. Instead, it's Raitt's voice in there harmonizing with Hornsby, multiplying the beauty.
The "Ecstatic" video stars the LSU Lady Tigers basketball team, and you can watch it below.
Indigo Park is out 4/3 on Zappo Productions/Thirty Tigers.
