Boston songwriter leads a ravenous rock and roll charge through an antagonistic and unhinged new single out Friday, June 5
History is often a reflection. When an artist searches back through time for lost tales and forgotten moments, what is discovered isn’t usually so much a historical reference point for their current situation, but a portal to help understand themselves and where their art needs to be.
For Derek Smith, the prolific Boston songwriter who earlier this year celebrated his 80th song release, the notion of burning things down to start fresh again felt imperative. And no better time to light the match than when the entire world is already on fire.
The flame burns bright on “Lady Bathory,” a ravenous new single from Derek Smith and the Cosmic Vultures that weaves chaos into the serene and crashes the streams on Friday, June 5.
An antagonistic and confrontational rock and roll composition that leans into the unhinged and blurs genre lines, all while adding a newfound snarl to Smith’s recent folk- and psych-leaning releases, “Lady Bathory” follows this past January’s silky “Hollow Choir” and a pair of expansive 2025 art-rock EPs in Temporary Circus. And it continues to extract a fire burning deep inside Smith as he opens up his creative soul to both complement and contrast all of the craziness in the world.
“The song is about confusion,” he admits. “We have come to the point on this planet where we don’t know what’s real or fake anymore. We can’t trust anything we see or hear. Everything is a fucking lie.”
To illustrate the point, Smith cracks the spine on a history book and relays the tale of Countess Elizabeth Bathory of Ecsed, a Hungarian noblewoman and alleged serial killer once accused of torturing and murdering as many as 600 young women at the turn of the 17th century, inspiring several vampire legends and pop culture adaptations in the modern day.
“She was accused of killing hundreds of women, mutilating them and bathing in their blood,” Smith offers. “This was clearly documented, but I wonder how much of it was true? I remember reading that she believed that the blood of these young women would make her young if she bathed in it. And uh, well, as the lyric goes, ‘I take a dip like Lady Bathory… and so… my life is so serene.’”
Of course, Smith is not condoning murder or torture in any sort of way, but using history and one of its darkest moments as a compass for his own internal struggle as an artist. Since arriving on the Boston music scene a decade ago, he’s dodged in and out of styles and sounds, recently merging his more folk-leaning solo material with the grand psych- and funk-rock majesty of the Cosmic Vultures.
Along the way, he’s left an eclectic trail of music, a meandering romp through various genre lanes, where traces of pop-rock, alternative, Americana, indie, post-glam, British Invasion, Yacht Rock, and AM ‘70s gold run wild, channeling a decade-spanning sound with Smith’s creative headspace as the connective tissue.
But “Lady Bathory” emerges as something unique in the always-shifting Derek Smith song catalog, where more than 50 unreleased compositions remain in the vault. The pleasant melody and smooth chord structure of past releases give way to something a bit more abrasive and mechanical, the type of sound in motion that awakens us from a dream with a quick panic and kinetic shock.
Even the artwork, depicting Smith’s wife, Gia, comes off as something distorted and weird, reflecting the insanity of the titular character but with an alluring undercurrent where it’s hard to look away.
“I selected ‘Lady Bathory’ as the next single because it felt like it was something different,” Smith says. “I want to make sure I keep evolving as a songwriter. In the past I would ponder which song I had that was ‘my best’, but this time I wanted to release something that I felt was very interesting.”
“Lady Bathory” takes some of the grand rock and roll ambition of 2024 album Opus and raises the stakes, extracting a newfound heaviness through angular guitars, a locomotive rhythm section, and menacing Hammond B3 organ notes that rise up out of the speakers through aural hypnosis.
It pushes and pulls through a tension release propelled through a vicious vocal take unlike anything he’s ever produced prior. The fury and rage of the alleged Lady Bathory story manifests itself into this new single.
“I have always dabbled in some surreal lyrics, but this time I wanted to make sure that people could listen to my words and sort of imagine whatever their brain wanted them to,” Smith adds. “It’s like, ‘here are the puzzle pieces… now put it all together in whatever way that fits well for you.’”
Helping him assemble this sonic puzzle were two significant collaborators in Erik von Geldern and Don Schweihofer, who produced and engineered “Lady Bathory” at their Berlin Audio Productions in Massachusetts. With Derek Smith and the Cosmic Vultures evolving into more of a solo project with key collaborators, this new track features von Geldern contributing guitars, bass and keys, while Schweihofer lays down the drums and percussion.
“These guys have driven me into a different direction and a new way to view my songwriting,” Smith says. “They are incredible. I need to say that. They are the ultimate producers and engineers and musicians. They pulled a dragon out of me. I haven’t let it all loose like that in a long time. I don’t even think they knew I had it in me. They have pushed me and pushed me and pushed me.”
With the instrumental core intact, von Geldern and Schweihofer set the stage for Smith to release some demons through the historical lens of “Lady Bathory.” She was vicious, and so is Smith on this track.
“They had me do take after take,” Smith adds. “We truly dissected this song: ‘Who is the character? Who is singing? Does he have an issue with the Queen? Is he in pain?’ We discovered the song so much more during my vocal performance and I owe it to them for bringing it out of me.”
More new music from Smith, with von Geldern and Schweihofer riding shotgun, alongside is on the way, leading to perhaps an EP or new album later this fall. But for now, it’s “Lady Bathory” who takes center stage, and her reign of terror some 400-plus years ago was the type of historical tale that gave Smith the inspiration to let his own rage burst out of the speakers.
No people were harmed in the making of this song, but a path was certainly cleared. The blood spilled, mixed with sweat and determination, is always Derek Smith’s own.
“At the end of the song, I just wanted to yell a bit,” Smith concludes. “I don’t really yell for any reason. But this felt like the time and place. Something isn’t right with the world and I felt it that day.”
Connect with Derek Smith:
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‘Lady Bathory’ production credits:
Music and Lyrics by Derek Smith
Produced and engineered by Erik von Geldern and Don Schweihofer
Derek Smith: Lead vocals
Erik von Geldern: Guitar, bass, and keys
Don Schweihofer: Drums and percussion
Artwork by Derek Smith and Gia Smith
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Derek Smith and the Cosmic Vultures bio:
Based out of Boston and born out of the North Shore of Massachusetts, Derek Smith and the Cosmic Vultures epitomize a nuanced blend of alternative, psychedelic, funk and indie rock vibes, encapsulated within an introspective musical narrative.
The band is composed of frontman and rhythm guitarist Derek Smith, bassist Steve Constantino, rhythm and lead guitarist Michael Strakus, and drummer Dalton DeLima.
Smith’s songwriting process stems from an immersion into particular moods, channeling these emotions into evocative musical pieces. He eschews conventional song structures, opting instead to tell intricate stories through song fragments, ultimately creating a cohesive tapestry that fills the gaps of his intricate mental landscape.
With two back to back nominations at the New England Music Awards for “Artist of the Year” and “Rock Act of the Year” in 2022 and 2023 respectfully, Derek Smith and the Cosmic Vultures remain a mainstay in the New England music scene with their dynamic and eclectic music and energetic live shows.
In late 2023, Derek Smith merged his acclaimed solo efforts (two self-released albums and recent single “Black Angel”) with the band’s extensive catalog, marking a new era for both entities. A new single, titled “Waiting” and produced by Dave Minehan at Waltham’s Wooly Mammoth Sound, arrived in January, with singles like “White Spade Symphony” and “Tomorrow Morning” highlighting 2024. The latest Derek Smith and the Cosmic Vultures album, Opus, arrived in November 2024, followed the next year by a pair of EPs in Temporary Circus: Act 1 and Temporary Circus: Act 2.
He enters 2026 with new single “Hollow Choir,” his 80th released song, and June’s “Lady Bathory.” Come along for the ride.
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