Kirk Smith has been kicking around Austin and our airwaves for some time, and last Friday he released “Julian.” “Julian” opens with a melancholy, bossa nova shuffle, setting the stage for a worried heart. But it’s not love, it’s sadness for someone you watched from afar decades ago. Lamenting the tale of a John Bender or Daniel Desario-type, seemingly addicted to making every wrong decision with the rest of the world only seeing a lost cause, or as Smith deems it, a “Golden Fool.” But the reality is this is a person who has fallen through the cracks and deemed defective before they could drive a car.

The story in the present day brings us up-to-speed with the titular Julian, a barfly regularly being swatted out of establishments and now perpetually on the road, never easy to nail down. It’s a beautiful ballad that pairs well with a chilled glass of Zevondel.

“Julian” is on In Waves, out now.

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