Zak Smith, ‘Brand New Party’ — Exclusive Premiere

Zak Smithis getting ready for the release of his latest studio album, and he's letting readers of The Boot hear one of the tracks first.

'Brand New Party' grew out of Smith's frustration with America's dominant political parties and the notion that a viable third party option might be preferable.

"It came from a revolutionary, 'Let's have a revolution' kind of feel," Smith explains. "It's a cliche, but the corporate interests of both parties are disgusting, and a third party would be great."

He adds, "There's a quote, 'Don't invite me to your revolution unless I can dance,' by Emma Goldman, the anarchist. So mixed in with the revolution stuff is party-type stuff ... drink up."

The song took on greater meaning when the Occupy movement sprang up.

"I recorded it before that happened, but it seemed to tie in pretty well with the way I was feeling," he notes.

"In terms of policy, it doesn't seem to have had much effect, which is disheartening," Smith acknowledges of the populist movement. "In terms of showing that that kind of spirit of getting out in the street isn't dead, and didn't die with Vietnam, that was very inspiring to see. Just on a very personal level, it was good to see that people care enough about stuff to go out on the street."

The song previously appeared in a full-band arrangement on a past album. For Smith's latest studio effort, 'Signs of Life,' he pared it down to an acoustic arrangement, focusing on the traditional folk and acoustic elements of his music. It's one of several tracks on the album in the tradition of protest singer-songwriters.

"The title, 'Signs of Life,' is kind of a play on that. It's like there are signs of life ... finally people are getting out and making noise about stuff," Smith relates.

"It's really the songs that I felt, at the time that I was recording it, the most connected to the lyrics. But there's a bunch of songs that are kind of in that revolutionary spirit on the album -- 'Have You Looked Outside,' 'Signs of Life,' 'Brand New Party,' 'Traitor's Way.' That political feeling was definitely in my head a little bit."

The Jersey-based performer's rootsy approach and social awareness often invite automatic comparisons to Bruce Springsteen.

"I'm a big Springsteen fan, but hearing that all the time gets tiring," Smith admits. "Mainly because you don't want to be -- the worst thing to me would be to be a pale imitation of somebody, of anybody. But the proof is in the music; if it's a blatant rip-off of Bruce, then I guess people will hear that, and if it's not, then I hope they see the difference."

'Signs of Life' is set for release on Oct. 7. Smith and his band will support the release with a tour of the Northeast. For more information, visit Smith's website, or follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

Listen to Zak Smith, 'Brand New Party':