Release Day Picks: August 25th New Album Highlights

Each week Release Day Picks profiles new LPs and EPs Team JamBase will be checking out on release day Friday. This week we highlight new albums by The War On Drugs, Lukas Nelson & Promise of The Real, Iron & Wine, Chris Forsyth & the Solar Motel Band and Gogol Bordello. Read on for more insight into the records we have all queued up to spin.

The War On Drugs – A Deeper Understanding

The Scoop: “I wanted it to be more of a band record in terms of the confidence within each player,” frontman Adam Granduciel stated regarding the fourth The War On Drugs album, A Deeper Understanding. “I’ve realized that I take for granted how much I love being in the studio. I love the trial and error, but for some people it’s understandably daunting, and it can be vague to tell somebody to do something ‘just by feeling.’ And even though we had developed a live camaraderie, I wanted to use people whose playing I loved and had worked with before.” The guitarist worked closely with his band mates, bassist Dave Hartley, keyboardist Robbie Bennett, drummer Charlie Hall and multi-instrumentalists Anthony LaMarca and Jon Natchez, in writing and tracking the follow-up to 2014’s Lost In A Dream. The new LP was recorded in studios in Los Angeles and New York City, and includes the 11-minute “Thinking Of A Place” which was originally issued as a Record Store Day exclusive. Here’s the black and white official video for the single “Pain”:

Label: Atlantic Records

Producer: Shawn Everett (engineer)

Number Of Tracks: 10

Running Time: 66:13

Guest Musicians: N/A

Tracklist:

1. Up All Night
2. Pain
3. Holding On
4. Strangest Thing
5. Knocked Down
6. Nothing To Find
7. Thinking of a Place
8. In Chains
9. Clean Living
10. You Don’t Have To Go

Stream / Download / CD/LP

Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real – Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real

The Scoop: Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real show off a new lineup with the release of a self-titled studio album. The band assembled at The Village Studios in West Los Angeles with producer John Alagia (DMB, John Mayer) and came away with a collection of 12 songs written by Lukas. Promise Of The Real welcomed a number of guests to contribute to the album. Lucius’ Jess Wolfe and Holly Lessig add backing vocals to a number of tracks as does Lady Gaga. The album also features “Just Outside Of Austin,” a song inspired by Glen Campbell featuring a guitar solo from Lukas’s dad Willie Nelson and his 86-year-old Aunt Bobbi. Check out a mini-documentary about the album:

Label: Fantasy Records

Producer: John Alagia

Number Of Tracks: 12

Running Time: 53:52

Guest Musicians: Willie Nelson, Aunt Bobbi, Jess Wolfe, Holly Lessig, Lady Gaga

Tracklist:

1. Set Me Down On A Cloud
2. Die Alone
3. Fool Me Once
4. Just Outside Of Austin
5. Carolina
6. Runnin’ Shine
7. Find Yourself
8. Four Letter Word
9. High Times
10. Breath Of My Baby
11. Forget About Georgia
12. If I Started Over

Stream / Download / CD/LP

Iron & Wine – Beast Epic

The Scoop: It’s been four years since Sam Beam last released a proper solo album as Iron & Wine. In the years between he team teamed up with Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses) for a collection of mostly deep cut cover songs, an album of duets with Jesca Hoop, and an archival release of unreleased early home recordings. For his sixth studio album, Beast Epic, Beam returns to Sub Pop, the label that gave him his start back in 2002. Beam has come a long way from his intimate bedroom recording from his first go-around, fleshing out his vision into a full band that’s all punctuated by his reflective songwriting and his signature warm and comforting vocals. The 11-track affair calls back to his earlier Sub Pop releases with a stripped-down band and production. These tunes once again sound like bedroom recordings, albeit one in a much bigger house and with years of success under his belt. Check out the music video for “Thomas Law County”:

Label: Sub Pop Records

Producer: Sam Beam

Number Of Tracks: 11

Running Time: 35:47

Guest Musicians: Robert Burger (keys), Joe Adamik (percussion), Jim Becker (guitar, banjo, violin, mandolin), Sebastian Steinberg (bass), Teddy Rankin Parker (cello)

Tracklist:

1. Claim Your Ghost
2. Thomas Law County
3. Bitter Truth
4. Song In Stone
5. Summer Clouds
6. Call It Dreaming
7. About A Bruise
8. Last Night
9. Right For Sky
10. The Truest Stars We Know
11. Our Light Miles

Stream / Download / CD/LP

Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band – Dreaming In The Non-Dream

The Scoop: Philadelphia-based psych-rock band Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band today release Dreaming In The Non-Dream. The four-track effort was conceived and recorded in a quick stretch following the U.S. Presidential election. While the guitarist and his band are known for their lengthy tracks, there’s little noodling as instead the group goes for cohesion. The results are more in line with Television and Pere Ubu than Phish and the Grateful Dead. Stream the 16-minute title track:

Label: No Quarter Records

Producer: Chris Forsyth

Number Of Tracks: 4

Running Time: 35:59

Guest Musicians: N/A

Tracklist:

1. History & Science Fiction
2. Have We Mistaken The Bottle For The Whiskey Inside?
3. Dreaming In The Non-Dream
4. Two Minutes Love

Stream / Download / CD/LP

Gogol Bordello – Seekers And Finders

The Scoop: The nine-piece gypsy punk rock outfit Gogol Bordello returns with 11 new songs on their latest LP Seekers And Finders. After working with outside producers on previous releases, lead vocalist Eugene Hütz returned to produce the follow-up to 2013’s Pura Vida Conspiracy. Written on three different continents and recorded in studios in New York City and Washington D.C., the record’s title track features Hütz’s longtime friend, Russian-born, NYC-based vocalist Regina Spektor . Check out the lyric video for the single “Walking On The Burning Coal”:

Label: Cooking Vinyl

Producer: Eugene Hütz

Number Of Tracks: 11

Running Time: 37:46

Guest Musicians: Regina Spektor

Tracklist:

1. Did It All
2. Walking on the Burning Coal
3. Break into Your Higher Self
4. Seekers and Finders (feat. Regina Spektor)
5. Familia Bonfireball
6. Clearvoyance
7. Saboteur Blues
8. Love Gangsters
9. If I Ever Get Home Before Dark
10. You Know Who We Are (Uprooted Funk)
11. Still That Way

Stream / Download / CD/LP

Compiled by Jeffrey Greenblatt, Andy Kahn and Scott Bernstein.