Monthly Archives: February 2019

Great Comet Broadway alum and underground accordion rock chanteuse Mary Knapp a.k.a. Toot Sweet releases her third studio album DISCO ECLIPSE on February 1. The record reflects Knapp’s experience of the past two years as a Brooklyn musician jumping headfirst into a hit Broadway show, sustaining an injury on the job and facing a paranoid convalescent comedown. Several of the tracks on the album make their official music video debut in Knapp’s surreal musical comedy web series, “Toot Sweet’s Variety Show,” which Knapp wrote, co-directed, co-edited, produced, and self-released alongside the album. Featured on Bust Magazine in January, the series which tells the story of a musician’s circuitous journey to success.





Knapp describes DISCO ECLIPSE as “articulating a turning point: from wanting something so badly you put your body and soul on the line – to becoming a sinking ship, happily disembodied from artistic aspirations.” Available on Friday, February 1, the full-length album comprises all original songs written, produced, and performed by Knapp. The bulk of the tunes feature core Toot Sweet band members—Doug Berns on bass, Tyler Kaneshiro on trumpet/synth and Javier Ramos on drums—with additional guests Henry Kandel on sax, Isaac Hernandez on guitar, and fellow Great Comet cast members Billy Kiessling and Grace McLean. DISCO ECLIPSE was engineered and edited by Lily Wen of Figure & Ground, mixed by Federico Lopez Schaper and Isaac Hernandez, and mastered by Kas Close.

Sonically, DISCO ECLIPSE drifts from crunchy homemade drum machines to lush orchestral passages, with a hefty dose of Knapp’s signature punky funky accordion/piano grooves. NYC’s Deli Magazine calls Knapp’s music “a multi-faceted romantic conflict between land and sea, past and present, away and home… in an accordion funk outfit.” Knapp’s classically-trained vocals and harmonies call to mind Fiona Apple, Edith Piaf and Radiohead, while her bombastic beats will make one think of Tune-Yards, St. Vincent and Talking Heads. Velvety describes the album’s first single “Bloody Murder” as “eclectic hysteria with a so infectious rhythm, creative instrumentation and catchy vocals” while Broadway World calls it “a powerfully unhinged ode to all those hungry performers striving for a piece of the proverbial pie, asking the simple question: how badly do you want this?”