Phish Fuego Studio Album Due In June

UPDATE: Phish will perform on The Late Show with David Letterman on June 24. Fuego was recorded at Ronnie’s Place and Anarchy Studios in Nashville, TN, Fame Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals, AL and at The Barn in Vermont. A variety of background vocalists and horn players contributed to the album. The title track was recorded at Boardwalk Hall on October 30, as Phish prepared for the Halloween show. “For years, there’s been a distinct difference between how we did things live and how we did them in studio,” noted Jon Fishman in a press release. “But the way we go about things live, the way the musical ball is passed around, is now happening much more in the studio—not because we’re trying to duplicate how we play on stage, just because this is how we operate as a band, period.”

It’s been nearly five years since Phish released their last studio album, Joy. That will change on June 24 when the Vermonters issue their 12th official studio album, Fuego. Fuego contains a number of songs which were first performed by Phish as part of their Wingsuit suite this past Halloween in Atlantic City, NJ. The new album was produced by Bob Ezrin (check out a list of Ezrin’s “greatest hits”).

Instead of performing an album by another artist this past Halloween, Phish treated fans to a suite of songs they expected to record soon after with Ezrin that had never been performed live. A feature written by Josh Baron in the Playbill distributed to fans on Halloween mentioned that Wingsuit was a tentative title and left the door open for the new Phish album to contain songs that weren’t performed during the Wingsuit set. The only song on the LP which wasn’t debuted on Halloween is Page McConnell’s “Halfway To The Moon.” “Snow,” “Amidst the Peals of Laughter” and “You Never Know” are the songs Phish performed as part of the Wingsuit set which didn’t make the new album. 

NPR revealed the news of the new album today and has shared audio of “Waiting All Night.” The album is available for pre-order now and includes packages containing orange vinyl.

Sample “Waiting All Night” off Fuego:

A History Of Phish Studio Albums:

–Junta (1989)
–Lawn Boy (1990)
–A Picture of Nectar (1992)
–Rift (1993)
–Hoist (1994)
–Billy Breathes (1996)
–The Story of the Ghost (1998)
–Farmhouse (2000)
–Round Room (2002)
–Undermind(2004)
–Joy (2009)
–Fuego(2014)

Here’s the tracklist for Fuego:

1. Fuego
2. The Line
3. Devotion To A Dream
4. Halfway To The Moon
5. Winterqueen
6. Sing Monica
7. 555
8. Waiting All Night
9. Wombat
10. Wingsuit

A History Of Horns On Phish Albums:

-“Split Open And Melt” on Lawn Boy features Dave “The Truth” Grippo on alto saxophone, Joseph Sommerville, Jr. on trumpet and Russell B. Remington on tenor saxophone
-“Julius” and “Wolfman’s Brother” on Hoist feature the Tower Of Power horn section
-“Riker’s Mailbox” on Hoist features Jonathan Frakes on trombone
-“Birds Of A Feather” on The Story Of The Ghost features Dave “The Truth” Grippo on saxophone, James Harvey on trombone and Jennifer Hartswick on trumpet