Leisure Cruise

Every dark cloud has a silver lining. On November 1, 2012, Lower Manhattan was powerless. Red Hook was submerged. And Williamsburg—though spared most of the trauma of Hurricane Sandy—was shaken nonetheless. Felled trees and utility poles littered the sidewalks; normally harried Brooklynites, unable to get to work or anywhere else, wandered Bedford Avenue in a daze. Dave Hodge—the veteran Canada-born musician (Broken Social Scene & Bran Van 3000..who has also performed with Macy Gray, Feist, Brazilian Girls, and Basement Jaxx), arranger (Janet Jackson/Neptunes, Carly Simon), and composer (through his company, Finger Music)—was sitting in a café that day when he saw an acquaintance walk by: singer and songwriter Leah Siegel (a fixture on the New York scene known for her solo project Firehorse and for singing with The Citizens Band). The two had met while recording for a tv spot a few years prior, and hadnʼt seen each other since. Before the storm, Hodge had been writing songs and score for the soundtrack to the indie film Two Hands to Mouth; pleased with the results, he hoped to create a new musical project based on a few of the pieces. Something that day—maybe it was... more...