New York native and recent Spoon recruit Benny Trokan today announces his debut album Do You Still Think of Me, to be released on August 23, with “It’s Time.” The record will also be his Wick Records debut. Listen to “It’s Time” and presave Do You Still Think of Me here.

“It’s Time” is a perfect example of Trokan’s chops— sultry, low-swinging, with the rattles and whistles right out of a spaghetti Western. Trokan breathes into the lyrics, crooning at a low whisper; seducing both the instruments and the listener. It’s a sound that seems to emerge straight out of the 60’s. Trokan sang most of the vocals on the record live, lending to the raw, wriggling feeling throughout.

Of the single, Trokan says: “I wrote the song pretty quickly, envisioning a female singer I was producing singing it — something like the Shangri-la’s or Lesley Miller’s ‘Once A Fool’ — but I wound up keeping it for myself. It was my first time writing string parts and I think it really hooked up the song. The instrumentation gives it a Morricone/Hazelwood vibe but I’m not mad at that. Though if I’m honest I’m more of a cowboy songs guy — Marty Robbins, Sons of the Pioneers.”

Watch the music video for “It’s Time” here.

Benny writes music that’s too cool for the A side. Not in an uppity way, but in the way that is so effortless and natural for him. In his own words, “I like to think that someone discovering my music is similar to the feeling I get finding a record I’ve never heard before, or flipping over a 45 to find out that the b-side is really where it’s at. Those are the songs that always do it for me.”

Trokan had long made a name for himself playing with Robbers on High Street, Lee Fields’ Expressions, The Jay Vons, Reigning Sound, and Charles Bradley’s Extraordinaires. He also had a brief stint in Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. His most recent collaborative exploit has been contributing his talents to Spoon’s GRAMMY-nominated album Lucifer on the Sofa.

For this record, Daptone’s Gabriel Roth (aka Bosco Mann) invited Trokan out to his newly christened studio, Penrose Recorders, in Riverside, CA. With longtime friends and musical associates, Mikey Post (drums) and Morgan King (bass), most of the tracks were recorded live to 8-track tape; with acclaimed Daptone producer/engineer Wayne Gordon touching up with overdubs.

Thus the name of the single is fitting; it’s time for Benny Trokan to take center stage. Later this summer, he’ll play two record release shows: August 18 at Gold Diggers in LA, and August 21 at Union Pool in NYC.