This Cigarette (Big Stir Single No. 131.5), by Irene Pena

This Cigarette (Big Stir Single No. 131.5)

by Irene Pena

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This Cigarette 03:21

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IRENE PEÑA continues the unique monthly track-by-track reissue of her 2011 debut album Nothing To Do With You with the May 29 release of “This Cigarette”. Up for pre-order at bigstirrecords.bandcamp.com/music now, it's both the fourth single in the series and the fourth track on the original album, produced by LA studio wizard STEVE REFLING. Over a groove that's equal parts White Album-era Beatles and peak-period Sheryl Crow, with a soaring chorus ending in a surprisingly angular turnaround, Peña sings (and harmonizes) the tale of an addiction that cuts both ways.

“The song is a direct message to a close friend who had a predilection for smoking cigarettes, despite the toll it was taking on their health,” Irene explains. “I was annoyed, angered and scared that despite every plea to stop smoking and every attempt at breaking or hiding the object of physical compulsion, I couldn’t leave their side. Mid-story, I realize that my need to keep them safe and close was my very own addiction.”

The tune is delivered with a vocal sweetness that belies the turmoil of the relationship in question, and deftly manages to be both a character sketch and a self-portrait. It's delivered with a sturdy helping of electric and acoustic guitar and prominent piano which elevate it to something genuinely insistent: by the time Peña delivers her variation on the classic “yeah, yeah, yeah” refrain, it's earned its place among Nothing To Do With You's other empathic originals, at once tough and tender, and thematically right where it needs to be.

The Tenth Anniversary celebration of Nothing To Do With You continues in June as part of the Big Stir Singles Series (curated by Peña herself) and serves as a reminder of where Irene found her unique voice, as she looks forward to crafting the followup full-length her fans have been anticipating all along.