Rival Sons en het wilde Westen

Rival Sons brengt op 6 juni haar vierde album uit dat als titel Great Western Valkyrie heeft meegekregen. Het album werd geproduceerd door Dave Cobb en opgenomen in de LCS Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. Ver weg van hun thuisbasis in het vertrouwde Californië. Toch is de westerse invloed duidelijk zichtbaar in het hoesontwerp, een foto waarin de bandleden gekleed gaan als destijds in het wilde westen.

Zanger Jay Buchanan: “Every time we set out to make a record, the experience ends up being some of the old and some of the new. Same studio, same town, same on-spot writing/recording process with the same guys. Actually, not the same guys; we have a new bass player in Dave Beste, and we had my buddy Ikey Owens (The Mars Volta, Jack White) throw down some craziness on keys while he was in town. I’d like to think we became a little bit more of ourselves making this record and that the selection of influences has broadened a bit. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Miley during the recording; I believe his playing on this record is his most lyrical and musical yet and that’s probably a direct reflection of Beste’s fresh blood in the mix. Speaking of Beste, whoa. Thunder from his hands all over this album. I think Scott really expanded his approach in these songs and you can definitely hear it in the moodier tracks, while on the hot tracks you can hear him forcing his aviary of Firebirds to drink moonshine. Dangerous. There are some serious house burners on Great Western Valkyrie but there are also a couple where thesis dictated more subtlety from the arrangement.

Gevraagd naar zijn eigen vocale prestaties, antwoordde Buchanan: “My performance? I think it’s more of the same on my end, but Cobb did tell me that my finest performances were given in these sessions, but what the fuck does he know? They say the truth is in the taste — I’d say this record is the filthy magazine hidden in the hymnal. This record the boys seem to have a fire in them! With (new bassist) Dave Beste in tow, we’ve never had this much time to make a record. During the previous albums, which were twenty days each, we had a room full of whiskey bottles at the end; this time, which is six weeks, there should be enough to fill a football field!”

Great Western Valkyrie is al te bestellen als speciale box set die in een beperkte oplage zal verschijnen. De box bevat o.a.:

• Dubbel LP op gekleurd vinyl
• Gesigneerde bandfoto
• Een bonus CD met 5 liedjes
• T-shirt met het hoesontwerp
• Een deken (het moet toch niet gekker worden…)

Bij een voorbestelling op iTunes krijg je 5 bonus tracks plus nog drie andere liedjes.

Een voorproefje van het nieuwe album is hieronder beluisteren.

Rival Sons "Great Western Valkyrie" Album Preview

Tracklisting Great Western Valkyrie:

1. Electric Man
2. Good Luck
3. Secret
4. Play The Fool
5. Good Things
6. Open My Eyes
7. Rich And The Poor
8. Belle Starr
9. Where I’ve Been
10. Destination On Course

Bonusmateriaal

1. Too Much Love
2. My Nature
3. Torture (concertopname uit Gothenburg)
4. Wild Animal (concertopname uit Gothenburg)
5. Manifest Destiny Part 2 (akoestisch)