Phil Cook Announces Solo Album ‘People Are My Drug’ & Shares Single

Multi-instrumentalist Phil Cook announced the upcoming release of his second solo album People Are My Drug. Cook will tour in support of the record set for release on June 1 via Psychic Hotline/Thirty Tigers and featuring the lead single “Steampowered Blues.”

The follow-up to Cook’s 2015 debut solo LP Southland Mission was produced by his brother (and Megafaun band mate) Brad Cook. The nine-track album includes contributions from Phil’s backing band The Guitarheels, made up of drummer JT Bates, bassist Michael Libramento and keyboardist James Wallace. The musicians tracked People Are My Drug over 10 days in Cook’s native Wisconsin and his current home state, North Carolina.

Phil Cook, who is also a recording and touring member of Hiss Golden Messenger, issued the following regarding the album’s lead single that Billboard premiered:

“Steampowered Blues” is the first song I wrote for People Are My Drug. I’ve long been drawn to the swing and swagger of New Orleans’ step rhythms. The left-right bass lines get my feet stepping, whereas the drums channel my hip movements and the weightless carefree melodies often coax my arms from my sides toward the sky. Lyrically, it’s playful in a way that I can get behind. Tamisha Waden and Chastity Brown’s vocal expressions are stunning. The payoff when Mountain Man enters at the end of the double-time chant makes me cheer every time. Within my mortal body and experience, this music is my church.”

Phil Cook & The Guitarheels will perform on Saturday, April 7 in Durham, North Carolina. They also have dates in Washington D.C. and Brooklyn, New York in June as well a show in Los Angeles in July. In August they’ll appear with Daniel Norgren in San Francisco and Seattle as well as the Pickathon festival in Oregon.

Check out “Steampowered Blues” via Billboard below:

People Are My Drug Tracklist

1. Steampowered Blues
2. Tide of Life
3. Miles Away
4. Another Mother’s Son
5. He Gives Us All His Love
6. Now That I Know
7. Tupelo Child
8. Deeper Kind
9. Life