Nobody can accuse the music gods of half-assing it next week. The first Friday of fall is the rock equivalent of an all-out assault, with nearly 500 new releases — including albums, EPs and box sets by everyone from David Gilmour, Neil Young and Faces to Mercury Rev, Jon Spencer and Laura Jane Grace. Here are the 25 titles at the toppermost of my poppermost. Yes, 25. And I undoubtedly missed a few needles in the haystack. If this is a sign of things to come, I might not survive the fall — but at least I’ll die happy. Let’s hit the ground running with all your plays of the week:
The Airborne Toxic Event
Glory
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “This record is not what I expected to be making after Hollywood Park,” says Mikel Jollett. “I’ve always believed songwriting should capture one’s journey through the world, emotionally, spiritually, ontologically — and this record Glory is very much about the child running through the night you see on the cover of the record, the person he becomes, the ghosts he carries. Is he seeking a glory he is forever unable to capture? Is the act of seeking itself a result of living with these ghosts? What does this mean for his relationship to his art, to his family, to his relationships? In what ways does he lament it, brag about it, express anger, sorrow, regret? How does one think about death in this context? Again. I never thought this is the record I would make after Hollywood Park. Because the journey continues and the answers are different from what I thought they’d be.”
Bleachers
A Stranger Desired
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “I didn’t sleep or call home enough,” says Bleachers Jack Antonoff. “The hotel at night had me restless. I wrote from there. A burning I felt was set to take me down if I didn’t name it and know it. From the low Juno 6 in my headphones to the chopping piano hits of early I Wanna Get Better — as the most unlikely bed to tell my life story in three verses — I saw the way out. It was odd to run away when everything was coming together on paper for me, but you do not get to control the direction your gut points no matter how inconvenient. Strange Desire was born in this rough time with the full armor of sonic chaos. Voices fluttering around me, hotel room walls echoing in the vocal takes, layers on layers and the low end of that Juno gluing the kitchen sink together as it still does for my band. It was the sound that I called Bleachers. That feeling of being there but in no way at the center. watching and dreaming. Shouting from a corner. In the shadow. ˆ wrote from that misunderstood place and I still do… So here it is. The first Bleachers album with me and the band knowing what we know now. All 11 tracks reimagined without the armor I needed at the time, a different kind now. Reimagined after that stranger has become the great rock of my life and the band’s. Knowing how that chapter ends, feeling so sorry for myself then, as well as inspired by that person who laid it all down for something better. I’d do it again. In search of myself and my people. A stranger desired.”
Castle
Evil Remains
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The high priests of sinister doom return with Evil Remains, their sixth album. Evil Remains is a hook-laden metal thrill-ride into Nosferatu nights. Back after a six-year break with the black magic fully recharged, Castle deliver a juggernaut of riffery in a hook-laden mix of doom and psychedelictinged classic metal. Adding to the atmosphere of majestic doom, Elizabeth Blackwell’s haunted, full-blooded vocals are electric witch hymns of death and madness. Recorded at Raincity Recorders in Vancouver B.C. by producer Jesse Gander (Anciients, 3 Inches Of Blood, Brutus) Evil Remains sonically balances the warm and fuzzy with the bombastic power of an alternate universe stadium rock band. Evil Remains delivers a metallic knock out punch from the first to the last note of its eight pummeling tracks.”
The Cold Stares
The Southern
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Cold Stares, known for their electrifying blend of blues-rock, are about to release their seventh studio album, The Southern. Delving deep into their Southern roots for the first time on record, the album embodies a true reflection of their heritage. “When it came time to record this album, I thought about everybody giving us this Southern rock tag, and decided to intentionally write songs that explore that,” says singer-guitarist Chris Tapp. “In doing so, I realized that being Southern, for me, is more than an accent, and a setlist of songs. It’s about family and tradition.” Though the trio’s origins lie below the Mason-Dixon Line origins, the group mine a woolier sound than expected. Fuzzed-out guitars, Zep-style riffs, and fleet-fingered Cream-style improvisations abound, as do nods to Delta blues. “Our version of the South is different,” says Tapp. “We would sit in with these old guys at the local lodge, at the time they were still playing the old hits by Bad Company, Robin Trower and AC/DC mixed in with country and southern rock — artists like The Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd. When I heard Free’s All Right Now I thought they were from Georgia!”
Faces
Complete BBC Concert & Session Recordings 1970-1973
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Faces are set to make fans Shake, Shudder, Shiver with a comprehensive boxed set compiling all of the group’s BBC concerts and surviving studio sessions. This new collection — much of it previously unreleased — has been remastered with the full participation of surviving band members Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood and Kenney Jones. The Blu-ray includes newly restored footage of Faces’ April 1972 appearance on Sounds for Saturday. The concert finds the band in peak form, radiating their swaggering, joyous spirit of rock ’n’ roll that continues to inspire generations. Once thought lost, many of the band’s BBC recordings were recovered from Faces’ own archives and private collections. (Notably, only one session of three songs remains missing.) Rarities include a stereo mix of the May 13, 1971, Paris Cinema concert, which was only broadcast in mono, and a February 1973 show that was never aired due to the BBC’s concerns over the band’s on-stage banter with the rowdy audience. Complete BBC Concert & Session Recordings 1970-1973 spans the band’s formation and meteoric rise. Exploring a period of intense creativity, which included four studio albums (First Step, Long Player, A Nod Is As Good As A Wink…To A Blind Horse… and Ooh La La) and several solo albums that Stewart recorded with most of the band (Gasoline Alley, Every Picture Tells A Story, Never A Dull Moment and Smiler).”
Fat Dog
Woof.
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “It’s fucking Fat Dog, baby.” Eight months on since their sprawling debut single King of the Slugs was released, the sentiment remains strong as the first words of Fat Dog’s debut album Woof. are bellowed out by frontman and squadron leader Joe Love (real name: Joe Love). One of the most exciting breakthrough bands of the past few years, conjurers of the sort of frenzied and wild live shows not seen in the capital for years, and with only a handful of tracks out thus far, Fat Dog are now the creators of Woof., a brilliant and mind-bending record. When the chaotic south London rabble formed, they made two rules: They were going to be a healthy band who looked after themselves and there would be no saxophone presence in their music. Two simple edicts to live by, and two things long-since broken by the Brixton five-piece. “Yeah, it’s all gone out the window,” says Love. Life is too short to stick to any plans you made in the unsettling, strait-jacketed times of 2021 anyway. That was when Fat Dog came together, Love deciding to form a group and take the demos he had been making at home as a way to keep himself sane during lockdown out into the world. In Chris Hughes (keyboards/synths), Ben Harris (bass), Johnny Hutchinson (drums) and Morgan Wallace (keyboards and, umm, saxophone), Love found like-minded mavericks to help bring the dream home. “A lot of music at the moment is very cerebral and people won’t dance to it,” says Hughes. “Our music is the polar opposite of thinking music.”
David Gilmour
Luck And Strange
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Luck And Strange was recorded over five months in Brighton and London and is David Gilmour’s first album of new material in nine years. The record was produced by David and Charlie Andrew, best known for his work with Alt-J and Marika Hackman. Of this new working relationship, David says, “We invited Charlie to the house, so he came and listened to some demos, and said things like, “Well, why does there have to be a guitar solo there?” and “Do they all fade out? Can’t some of them just end?” He has a wonderful lack of knowledge or respect for this past of mine. He’s very direct and not in any way overawed, and I love that. That is just so good for me because the last thing you want is people just deferring to you.” The majority of the album’s lyrics have been composed by Polly Samson, Gilmour’s co-writer and collaborator for the past 30 years. Samson says of the lyrical themes covered on Luck And Strange, “It’s written from the point of view of being older; mortality is the constant.” Gilmour elaborates, “We spent a load of time during and after lockdown talking about and thinking about those kind of things.” Polly has also found the experience of working with Andrew liberating, “He wants to know what the songs are about, he wants everyone who’s playing on them to have the ideas that are in the lyric informing their playing. I have particularly loved it for that reason.”
Laura Jane Grace & The Mississippi Medicals
Give An Inch EP
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Laura Jane Grace & The Mississippi Medicals — the new rock quartet fronted by Grace and featuring Matt Patton of Drive-By Truckers (bass), Mikey Erg of The Ergs (drums) and Paris Campbell Grace (vocals, percussion) — present the band’s debut EP, Give An Inch. Recorded by Patton at Dial Back Sound in Water Valley, MS, Give An Inch ushers in yet another new and exciting chapter for the Emmy-nominated artist, author and activist as she calls upon the various talents of these seasoned musicians, led by the singles All Fucked Out and the rollicking Karma Too Close.”
The Heavy Heavy
One Of A Kind
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “With the arrival of their debut EP Life And Life Only, The Heavy Heavy immediately filled a longtime void in the musical landscape, delivering a soulful breed of rock ’n’ roll untouched by modern artifice. As audiences across the globe grew enchanted with their era-bending sound, the U.K. band began selling out headline shows in New York and Chicago, opening for the likes of Black Pumas and Band of Horses, and earning critical comparisons to Jefferson Airplane, The Band, The Mamas & The Papas, and more — all with only a handful of songs to their name. After spending the past two years on the road and in the studio, The Heavy Heavy now draw listeners even deeper into their dreamworld with their long-awaited debut album One Of A Kind. Written by Georgie Fuller and William Turner and mostly recorded at Turner’s studio in Brighton, One Of A Kind maintains the self-contained approach of Life And Life Only — Turner produced, engineered, and mixed every track and handled most of the LP’s lavish instrumentation (including guitar, bass, piano, organ, Mellotron and more). But in a departure, One Of A Kind leans away from Laurel Canyon folk-rock and fully embraces their British roots, finding inspiration in the gritty and groove-heavy hedonism of The Rolling Stones’ Goats Head Soup. “A lot of our EP was very bright and pretty, so we wanted to smash the door down like we do in the live show,” says Turner. “Because we were creating an entire album, there was so much more space to explore and expand,” Fuller adds. “It’s still undoubtedly that Heavy Heavy sound, but now we have all these other rooms to play around in.”
Hinds
Viva Hinds
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The fourth album from Spanish indie rockers Hinds opens with a song called Hi, How Are You, and at the time they were writing it, best friends Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrote would’ve responded: Not great. “Hey, you OK?” Perrote sings to Cosials, who responds: “I’ve been better tbh.” It’s an apt introduction to Viva Hinds, an album Cosials and Perrote made after emerging from a creative rut that began when they released their last album, Prettiest Curse, in 2020 and ended when their bassist and drummer decided to leave the band. In between, they split with their management team, lost touring revenue due to lockdowns, and were without a label for the first time, but when Perrote and Cosials got together to write Viva Hinds, those hardships dissolved. The girls had no one in their corner, but they had one another, and that mutual trust (they call themselves “millionaires in friendship”) allowed them to create the most accomplished album of their careers, one that celebrates their shared history and reaffirms that this band is in it for the long haul. “We started the band because we are so safe and comfortable with each other. Our relationship is unbreakable,” Cosials says. “This connection between us hasn’t changed since the very beginning. We still finish each other’s ideas, laugh at each other’s jokes and rhyme each other’s lines. Maintaining that enthusiasm for music and for Hinds through the years may seem extremely difficult to find, but it’s something that only can happen with your very best friend.”
Hot Mud
Pink Cloud Pop
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “We find Hot Mud floating in his never-ending pink cloud. Here he has found purpose, happiness, and love. He sings of his newfound zest for life, embracing his oddities in anthems for outcasts. A new musical collection expands his journey as an artist and recovering addict, it’s a record called Pink Cloud Pop. Hot Mud is an alter ego, a rocker, and a weirdo. The musician burst into the indie underground rock scene in spring 2024 with his critically acclaimed debut album Rehab Rock. The record was written during his struggle with addiction and the early stages of his recovery, it was recorded entirely by himself throughout his stay at a treatment facility in Ottawa. Pink Cloud Pop is the second album by Hot Mud. The title and theme refer to the term ‘pink cloud’ known in addiction recovery circles as a temporary phase of euphoria and extreme optimism during the rehabilitation process.”
MJ Lenderman
Manning Fireworks
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “No one paid too much attention when Jake Lenderman recorded Boat Songs, his third album released under his initials, MJ Lenderman. Before he cut it, after all, he was a 20-year-old guitarist working at an ice cream shop in his mountain hometown of Asheville, N.C., getting away for self-booked tours of his own songs or with the band he’d recently joined, Wednesday, whenever possible. But as the pandemic took hold just as he turned 21, Lenderman enjoyed the sudden luxury of free time. Every day, he would read, paint, and write; every night, he and his roommates, bandmates, and best friends would drink and jam in their catawampus rental home, singing whatever came to mind over their collective racket. Some of those lines stuck around the next morning, slowly becoming 2021’s self-made Ghost of Your Guitar Solo and then 2022’s Boat Songs. The latter became one of that year’s biggest breakthroughs, a ramshackle set of charms and chuckles. Suddenly, people were paying a lot of attention to what Lenderman might make next. The answer is Manning Fireworks. It is not only his fourth full-length but also a remarkable development in his story as an incredibly incisive singer-songwriter, whose propensity for humor always points to some uneasy, disorienting darkness.”
Mercury Rev
Born Horses
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In upstate New York, deep in the seam between the Catskill Mountains and the Hudson Valley, a richly swelling, spellbound sound emerges, eddying and flowing like the local Esopus Creek, or in the slipstream of the grander Hudson River, carrying the flotsam and jetsam of our hopes, dreams, and fears. A sound composed of organic and electronic; guitars, keys, brass, strings, woodwind, drums — and a voice of incantations, tapping streams of consciousness that similarly eddy and flow. Spiritually, literally, psycho-geographically: Where else does Mercury Rev’s ninth album Born Horses spring from? This cascade of gleaming, glistening psych-jazz-folk-baroque-ambient quest that searches its soul but can never truly know the answer? A sound and vision begun with skeletal chords and surges of self-reflection, alive to the notions and motions of time and reality somehow both linked to their exalted past whilst quite unlike anything they have created before?’’ The album title, named after the majestically rippling sixth track Born Horses, was chosen because its words resonate through the entire record, encompassing the idea of flight (“I dreamed we were born horses waiting for wings”) and the phrase “You and I” that appears at different junctures on the album. This is not the concept of two separate people, but two parts of oneself.”
Midwife
No Depression In Heaven
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “If rock ’n’ roll’s a dream, please don’t wake me.” Midwife’s No Depression In Heaven, her fourth studio album, was written primarily in the back of vans while on tour, endlessly, over the course of the past few years. The record engages with the contemplative spirit of rock ’n’ roll from within a body in motion. No Depression In Heaven explores themes of sentimentality, the interplay between dreams, memory, and fantasy, and a familiar subject seen throughout all of Midwife’s work: Grief. Madeline Johnston takes a look at the tender and transcendent underneath a hard exterior of leather and studs, exposing a different side of the heavy music scene, where Johnston’s project has been living and evolving. Inspired by ephemeral moments that make up life on tour, the totemization of vehicles, outlaws, and the psyche of America’s underbelly, No Depression In Heaven affirms Johnston’s existential status as a woman of the highway.”
Molchat Doma
Belaya Polosa
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Belarusian post-punk / synth pop group Molchat Doma have always exuded the kind of brutalist aesthetic of the architecture that adorns their album art. It’s cold, gray, imposing, industrial — and yet there are human hearts beating within those foundations. In the wake of their breakthrough success in 2020, the trio endured a polarity of experiences, from the nadir of an uprooted life and forced relocation away from their native Minsk to the apex of head-lining massive shows across the world. It was in this headspace that the band settled into their new home of Los Angeles to finish writing their fourth album Belaya Polosa, a testament to change in difficult times, a love letter to the digital pulse of the ’90s, and a technicolor reinvention of the band’s somber dance floor anthems. Belaya Polosa propels them into a new direction while retaining their cold minimalist delivery they’re known for. The basement grime and dirty tape-head sound of their previous work are now making space for digital luster and shimmering production values.”
Jessie Murph
That Ain’t No Man That’s The Devil
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “That Ain’t No Man That’s The Devil is the highly anticipated debut studio album from rising star and powerhouse vocalist Jessie Murph. The album features collaborations with Jelly Roll, Teddy Swims and Koe Wetzel. Off the heels of her global headline tour selling over 85,000 tickets and a major festival circuit, the genre bending maverick is finally ready for her biggest, brightest, and boldest chapter yet. Born in Nashville in 2004 and raised in Athens, AL, Murph blends country storytelling with elements of alt-rock and R&B. Her breakthrough came from videos she posted to social media, with her covers of Fleetwood Mac and Britney Spears drawing attention from fans and record executives. She was signed to Columbia Records in 2021 and began writing her own material; those deeply honest, stylistically fluid songs took aim at her online critics and spoke to young listeners who wanted to hear music that acutely described their tangle of feelings. Her 2023 debut mixtape, drowning, includes cuts like the searingly diaristic Pray and the twangy They Leave that showcase her versatile voice and razor-sharp songwriting.”
Tami Neilson
Neilson Sings Nelson
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “When I met Willie Nelson for the first time, we hugged hello, then wandered over to his living room and sat — me on the couch with my guitar, him on a chair across from me holding Trigger — and rehearsed our duet Beyond the Stars, which we’d recorded together remotely during the pandemic,” recalls Tami Neilson. “I gratefully gulped back the glass of water his wife Annie handed me and tried to still my trembling hands, hearing our voices join together for the first time in the same room. It was one of the most magical moments of my life… At first, the idea was to do a stripped back, acoustic version of my favourite Willie songs — just me and my brother Jay accompanying me on guitar. Nothing fancy or complicated. I asked my brother Todd to come along and film and document it. He suggested bringing his colleague Craig to assist. We walked into the studio and Chadie, who had agreed to engineer the sessions, had scavenged around the studio for some percussion and rustled up a kick, snare and a floor tom (no cymbals a la Willie!). I asked Todd if he would mind hopping on the makeshift kit “just for one song…” It was a slippery slope that led to him playing on half the album. After growing up in Canada together touring in a family band for over a decade with our parents, this album marks the first time the three of us siblings have recorded music together in 25 years.”
Party Dozen
Crime In Australia
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Crime In Australia follows 2022’s The Real Work, the first Party Dozen record that (some) people were actually waiting for; the one that Nick Cave sang on; the one that had a track that Billy Woods jumped on for a rework; the one that took them to the U.S., Europe (twice), Japan, China and New Zealand; the one that saw Party Dozen hook up with a cool U.S. label; the one that made a whole swathe of websites and radio stations declare it their Album of the Day/Week/Epoch. The Real Work was not the first Party Dozen record, but it was in many ways where Party Dozen really started to put it all together. Crime In Australia continues to build on their arc, and elevates their ascent with a slew of new songs that are simultaneously more focused and more feral than anything they’ve ever done. Across its 10 tracks, Crime In Australia showcases a group absolutely unafraid to explore their “many dumb ideas” and as a result going places that are thrilling, visceral, face-melting, surprisingly danceable, and frequently ridiculous (often all at the same time).”
The Picturebooks
Albuquerque
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Picturebooks, an energetic rock duo based in Gütersloh, Germany, comprises Fynn Claus Grabke, who handles vocals and guitar, and Philipp Mirtschink on drums. Since their formation in 2009, The Picturebooks have gained acclaim for their stripped-down, raw sound that fuses elements of blues, garage rock, and a dash of punk vigor. After relentlessly touring their last two albums worldwide with over 350 shows in the last three years, they have gained a lot of self-confidence in themselves. The goal was to add a new vibe to their music while still keeping true to their sound aesthetic.”
Prim
Move Too Slow
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Originally formed in 2020, Prim were established by founding members Kevin Flores and Mark Ramos as a departure from their previous bands in the Houston punk and hardcore scene. Still sharing the same ethos, Prim were a platform for the band’s love of indie and alternative rock, mirroring the evolution of Deep Wound to Dinosaur Jr. Now based in Seattle, the band has transformed with the addition of members Evelyn Frances and Shane Juretic. The 11-track album Move Too Slow showcases Prim’s knack for crafting catchy hooks backed by fuzzed-out guitar riffs and leads. Vocals are shared between Kevin and Evelyn, each leading their own songs while also harmonizing together. Songs like Make Your Bed evoke The Breeders, with Evelyn’s swirling, aggressive vocals. Don’t Count on Me echoes the Dinosaur Jr. influence, featuring squealing guitar hooks, reminiscent of a ’90s movie soundtrack. Cruisin’ features Kevin repeating the hook and guest vocals from Squint’s Brennan Wilkinson, making it one of the more straightforward punk songs on the record. Prim shine on their first album, clearly having the best time while crafting songs that are perfect for banging your head and moving fast.”
Rex Orange County
The Alexander Technique
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Rex Orange County’s new album The Alexander Technique was produced by Rex alongside Teo Halm (Rosalía, SZA, Beyoncé) and Jim Reed, the latter a member of Rex’s touring band since its inception, in addition to James Blake, who produced and features on Look Me In The Eyes. The Alexander Technique is named for a therapeutic practice in which back pain is treated in order to address deeper health problems, and it’s an apt name for Rex’s most raw album to date: What may have begun as a simple exercise in changing the purview of his writing ended up becoming his most confessional, open-hearted album. Stripping back his sound to a skeletal mixture of stream-of-consciousness R&B and indie-folk, while retaining the orchestral lushness that’s become his trademark, The Alexander Technique marks the beginning of Act 2 of Rex Orange County’s career: A new chapter on which he lays everything bare, no matter how painful that might be. “The Alexander Technique is very much a look into my own brain and experiences over the last few years,” he says. “It’s almost a diary.”
Shovels & Rope
Something Is Working Up Above My Head
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “One night in the middle of the night there were a series of noises coming from above which lead to a series of thoughts,” Shovels & Rope say. “It sounded like something was working. Building something.. A nest for its family? A trap for its prey? This led to more thoughts about unseen things at work. A God? A voice in your head? It all feels kind of made up until someone responds to it. Less means more. That’s kind of always how it’s been with us. This time the rules were simple: we can only use what we work with live and whatever we put down on tape must be accomplishable on a stage in a live setting. That’s always seemed to be when we’re at our best. Or most twitchy. Many times we’ve made records that we loved and then, after figuring out how we’d perform it live, we end up falling in love with the live arrangement because being a two-piece band it took some real risk and struggle which led to innovation which gave it a whole new life. (Consider the tortured grape.) So with this one we just started there and worked backwards. The result encapsulates, more than anything we’ve done before, the sound of our live performance. Resulting in what one might consider by definition, a definitive album.”
Jon Spencer
Sick Of Being Sick
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Jon Spencer teams up with Kendall Wind and Macky Spider Bowman — the former rhythm section from disbanded Woodstock punk wunderkinds The Bobby Lees — to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And they’re all out of bubblegum. Spencer has been innovative force in the independent music scene since the mid-’80s. An acclaimed live performer, he has toured all the continents except Antarctica and has amassed a dizzying discography as the leader of Pussy Galore, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Heavy Trash and Jon Spencer & the HITmakers, as well as with Boss Hog, The Honeymoon Killers, The Gibson Brothers and Taxi Girls.”
The The
Ensoulment
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The word ‘soul’ has been a recurring one in the story of The The: From Matt Johnson’s 1981 neo-psychedelic debut album, Burning Blue Soul, through the shapeshifting musicality of its 1983 successor, Soul Mining, and now with the name of his amorphous band’s 2024 release Ensoulment. The dictionary definition of ‘ensoul’ is ‘to endow with a soul’. “It’s a fascinating idea,” says Johnson. “At what point does the soul inhabit the body? But, more pertinently, we’re in this era of nascent AI technology, and the philosophical musings and debates that are going on now about the meaning of being human.” Encompassing characteristic topics ranging from love and sex, war and politics, life and death — to the meaning of what it is to be human in the 21st century — Ensoulment was written, demoed and mixed at Studio Cinéola in London, the base of The The’s main creative force. The songs were further refined in rehearsals ahead of a six-day session at Real World Studios near Bath, where Matt was joined by long-standing members James Eller (bass), DC Collard (keyboards), Earl Harvin (drums), and Barrie Cadogan (lead guitar). The album also marks the return of co-producer and engineer Warne Livesey, who previously worked on landmark albums Infected (1986) and Mind Bomb (1989). Additional performances include Gillian Glover (backing vocals), Terry Edwards (horns), Sonya Cullingford (fiddle) and Danny Cummings (percussion).”
Neil Young
Archives Vol. III (1976-1986)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “This is the third volume of the Neil Young Archives series of box sets produced by Neil Young. A definitive, comprehensive, and chronological record of his entire body of released work. Volume III covers the period from 1976 through 1987, an extremely productive and musically diverse period in Young’s career that included the release of several classic albums including Comes A Time, Rust Never Sleeps, Live Rust and Trans. Spanning 11 years, this box set covers more years, and includes more music and video than the previous two volumes in the series. The limited-edition deluxe box set contains 17 CDs and five Blu-rays, with 198 tracks on the CDs and 11 films on Blu-rays. It also includes a hardcover 160-page book (chronologically illustrated with archive materials, detailed descriptions of the music, and a fold-out timeline of the period) plus a fold-out poster. It is housed in a large box, identical to the Vol. I and II editions.”
