Pete Muller Just Wants ‘One Last Dance’
Last year, Princeton grad and Passaic County resident Pete Muller just wanted “More Time.” This year, on his fourth album, he’s asking for One Last Dance. The singer-songwriter-pianist-producer-philanthropist’s new effort is a gorgeous montage of emotion, reeking with a yearning propensity for true wordsmith smarts. Dude’s not afraid to show vulnerability, as a middle-aged man beset with existential conundrums about life, fatherhood, marriage, art, business and ambition. He’s not alone. Allison Russell, who won a “Best American Roots Performance” Grammy Award for her “Eve Was Black,” sings and plays clarinet on the title track. Sista Strings, violin and cello, straight out of Brandi Carlile’s touring band, grace closer “Stopping Time.”
Recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studio in Great Britain, it is, ultimately his words that ring true. Those words of wisdom (“life’s more fun if you don’t need to win” from “Dream Small”) are surrounded by a confluence of sound: accordion, drums, bass, electric/acoustic/12-string guitar, fiddle, pedal steel, organ, mandolin, alto/tenor/bass saxophones, trombone, trumpet, viola and chorale.
“I’ve led a curiosity-driven life,” Muller says, “and I feel grateful to have had adventures that few get to experience. But, recently, I’ve been finding more joy in the little things, in the small moments of beauty and wonder that only show themselves when you slow down and pay attention.”