Smoota has no problem with making his audience uncomfortable.
On his new album, “Fetishes,” the indie touring trombonist lets the double — and sometimes single — entendres run wild with lyrics including “Her dress is wet from all her sweat and her lips suck … a cigarette.”
“Up on stage, I try to create another world where sexuality is the norm,” said Smoota, whose real name is Dave Smith. “It’s very intensely personal and sex-themed and it creates a weird energy in the room that I like.”
Smoota boasts a serious indie rock pedigree. He has played on albums and toured with lauded artists including TV on the Radio, Sufjan Stevens and Spoon.
On his own, he sounds like Of Montreal meets Esquivel meets Beck. His biggest influences are French, including musician Serge Gainsbourg and auteurs Jean Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut.
He composed all of the songs himself — with titles including “Pink Bra Playing Guitar,” “Body to Body to Body,” and “If You Let Me Be Your Knife” — and recorded them in his apartment, playing keyboards and trombone and backed by a drum machine.
Smoota said some of his songs are inspired by his torrid past, and others are fantasy. But regardless of what happened and what didn’t, Smoota said he was determined to write songs that exposed the reality of sex and desire.
“The world has enough love songs but not enough sex songs,” said Smoota. “I like frank depictions of what it is like when real people have sex. It’s not always pretty and sometimes it’s strange and sometimes it’s funny.”
Smoota album release party with Adrienne Truscott, Ida Hawk, and Daphne at Union Pool (484 Union Ave. between Skillman Avenue and Conselyea Street). Oct. 29, 9 pm, $10.
