Trey Anastasio has continued his prodigious musical output from self-quarantine with his latest song, “Shaking Someone’s Outstretched Hand”. The song marks the eighth new composition which Phish guitarist has debuted in less than two weeks since Americans began staying indoors to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
As quarantine wears on, Trey continues to build exceedingly complex songs. Whereas the first couple songs (“Lost In The Pack” and “When The Words Go Away“) were fairly simple acoustic ballads, his output has grown increasingly produced with tunes like “I Never Needed You Like This Before” and “I Never Left Home“. “Shaking Someone’s Outstretched Hand” joins the latter group as Trey once again employs a drum track and backing vocals, even though these elements are more downplayed this time. The song has a kind of dark, brooding tone reminiscent of something off of 2004’s Undermind. Specifically, it has a similar air to “Scents And Subtle Sounds”, both musically and in lyric density.
As Trey’s quarantine-inspired songwriting becomes more complex and produced, so do his videos. This one also features a cameo from Trey’s cat Joey, who appears at least partly responsible for keeping the guitarist from going insane during all this time at home. The other focal point of the time-lapse video is Trey’s outfit, which many quickly recognized as his painter jumpsuit from this year’s New Year’s Eve gag at Madison Square Garden. This time, Anastasio has gone all the way with the painter outfit and is wearing a kind of gas mask, which could be construed as a reference to the coronavirus outbreak or the fact that many painters wear masks to avoid fumes.
Watch “Shaking Someone’s Outstretched Hand” below.
“Shaking Someone’s Outstretched Hand” joins the previously mentioned songs, as well as “Timeless“, “The Greater Good“, and “Lotus” in Trey’s ever-expanding quarantine catalog. While Trey keeps churning out songs, other artists are finding their own creative ways to pass the time in quarantine productively. Many have taken to hosting webcast series (including Phish), while others are teaching classes, or Anderson .Paak who just launched his own coloring club for kids on his Instagram.