The Lone Bellow Preview New Album With 'You Were Leaving' Video
(MPG) Acclaimed indie/folk force The Lone Bellow have announced their long-awaited new album What a Time to be Alive will release on February 13th. Recorded in Muscle Shoals and written/recorded collaboratively for the first time with the band's full touring ensemble, the album marks a whole new chapter for the Nashville by-way-of-Brooklyn trio, as they break fresh sonic ground with ecstatic arrangements that crackle and hum with all the energy and firepower of their acclaimed live show.
The result is their strongest, most exhilarating, and cohesive record to date. The band also unveiled their new single "You Were Leaving," a stunning track that comes to terms with the fleeting transience of life, along with an official video.
"This record encapsulates everything we love and respect about each other," stated Zach Williams. "It's a snapshot of the friendships we've built over the last decade-and-a-half, of how far we've come and how much we've grown."
The announcement of the new album arrives after months of teasing new music, kicked off by the "harmony-rich" (No Depression) "Common Folk," a heartfelt ode to the quiet strength of everyday people that blends vivid storytelling with anthemic melodies and the band's signature tight-knit vocals. It was followed by "No Getting Over You," a track that finds The Lone Bellow at their most raw and unguarded, prompting MXDWN to rave "The song is carried by a stunning performance from Kanene Pipkin, whose voice captures both the fragility and strength that come with heartbreak." They also recently shared "Night Goes Black," which Holler called "mesmerizing, with the band's signature harmonies and anthemic indie folk turned up full."
The Lone Bellow's sixth studio album, What a Time to be Alive is more than just a self-portrait; it's also the start of a whole new journey. With founding trio Williams, Brian Elmquist, and Kanene Pipkin along with drummer Julian Dorio and multi-instrumentalist Tyler Geertsma, the songs are earnest and poignant, full of ruminations of innocence, loss, and the mysteries of love, and the performances are rapturous to match, balancing raw, rock and roll swagger with tender, folk sincerity. While much is familiar - the band's trademark lush harmonies and infectious hooks haven't gone anywhere - it's impossible not to sense the new horizons at play, to feel the palpable chemistry fueling these blissful, freewheeling celebrations of the human spirit in all its mixed-up, bittersweet beauty.
When it came time to write What a Time to be Alive, the band started in Henderson, KY, where producer Peter Barbee had converted an abandoned firehouse into a recording studio. There, they tapped into the playful energy of their soundchecks on the road, improvising a series of instrumental beds they could later write lyrics to. They headed to Muscle Shoals, AL next, to record the new material, tracking the foundation of each song live in the same room together before splitting off for intensive vocal and harmony workshopping. "We wanted to shake things up and try a new approach this time around," says Elmquist, who took the lead in producing the album. "People just sat at whatever instrument they were feeling, and then we'd jam until we had a song. It felt like we were teenagers again playing in a garage, which is a magical thing for a band that's 15 years into their career."
The band soon hit a devastating twist of fate not long after when their van was broken into while out on tour, and amongst their equipment, gear, clothes, and other valuables, lost the hard drive that stored all their new recordings. The theft immediately set them back to square one with the album. When word got out, the band's diehard fanbase stepped in, raising enough funds to replace their stolen equipment and get the group back into the studio within hours. It was a humbling experience that motivated them to push even harder, be more honest and brave and present, and record their best album yet for their devoted community of fans that have supported them over the past decade. What a Time to be Alive is a testament to the enduring bonds their music has forged, both on the stage and in the audience.
The Lone Bellow will close out the year with a blowout hometown show tomorrow at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium before hitting the road early next year for a nationwide headline tour supporting the new album. The first leg of dates have been announced, which will take them through Pittsburgh, Chicago, Louisville, Iowa City, and Madison among many others.
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