John Frusciante has been enjoying an especially fruitful COVID isolation period. The Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist has released another new album under his Trickfinger alias. She Smiles Because She Presses The Button is available now via Berlin’s Avenue 66 label. It follow’s Trickfinger’s Look Down, See Us EP, which arrived in late March.

The choice of label is an indication of She Smiles‘ stylistic affiliation. Like all previous Trickfinger releases, the record inhabits the electronic music sphere. The label describes it as Frusciante’s “most diverse yet cohesive album to date.” The six-track release takes in Balearic house, techno and IDM, as well as groovier dance music and ambient textures.

Throughout, Frusciante displays his deft understanding of melody, which has seem him co-write a number of commercial radio staples with RHCP over the past three decades.

“For years now, Frusciante has immersed himself in machines, learning tracker programs, synths and drum machines inside and out,” says the album bio. “On She Smiles Because She Presses The Button, this period of intense study leads to intense creative liberation.”

The record can be streamed via the Acid Test Records Bandcamp page – the label via which Frusciante issued 2015’s debut, self-titled Trickfinger album and the 2017 follow up, Trickfinger II. She Smiles Because She Presses The Button is Frusciante’s third full-length release as Trickfinger and first since rejoining Red Hot Chili Peppers in December 2019.

Frusciante was scheduled to play his first official shows since his re-entry in May, but all upcoming tour dates were postponed. Frusciante did however join Flea and Anthony Kiedis at a Tony Hawk Foundation event in early February. They performed 1991’s ‘Give it Away’ and covers of Gang of Four’s ‘Not Great Men’ and The Stooges’ ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’.

Check out She Smiles Because She Presses the Button by Trickfinger:

Love Electronic?

Get the latest Electronic news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine