Jesse Kivel Releases New Single “The House of Nassi”

Jesse Kivel – the Maine-based, Los Angeles-born singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist – releases “The House of Nassi”, his first new music since 2023 album Life and Death at Party Rock, via his own New Feelings record label. “The House of Nassi” is a slow-burning folk song inspired by a tape Kivel heard from a family friend inviting his parents to a 40th birthday party in 1990. Kivel recalls being in the living room, helping his parents unwrap the package in which the invitation arrived. “We turn the tape on and rhythmic sounds begin to play,” says Kivel. “Through the groove the lyrics announce my parents’ cordial invitation to Albert Nassi’s 40th birthday. The song, catchy, over the top and grand, stayed in my mind for 30 years. Now in my 40th year, I have decided to reflect on the man who immortalized himself in song all those years ago. The man for whom stamps and printed invitations were simply not enough.”

On “The House of Nassi,” Kivel mines his past yet again. To dig into a tangible childhood memory where 40 was the oldest age you could ever be. While “The House of Nassi” is a meditation on a sonic invitation of years past, it is also about massive wealth, paradise lost, paradise found and what makes life worth living as our minds slowly fade away. “I feel this in my own aging, but it is expedited by technology and contemporary modes of communication,” says Kivel. “I have fused with the machine and in doing so, my memories have grown foggy and sparse.” Despite this, the Nassi invitation is as clear as a silver bell in a Chris Van Alsberg book. Ringing, for all who truly believe.

“The House of Nassi” was co-written by Kivel and Joey Genetti, features pedal steel from Hamilton Belk, guitar and vocals from Matt Popieluch, and vocals, guitars, keys, bass, and additional production from Kivel.

Catch Jesse Kivel live next month at Tandem in Portland, Maine, on Friday, April 18th.

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