Kaliforniens blues-rockare Rival Sons släpper sitt nya album Head Down i augusti via Earache Records. Albumet spelades in i Nashville, Tenesse tillsammans med Grammy-nominerade producenten Dave Cobb (Jamie Johnson, Shooter Jennings).
Rival Sons frontman Jay Buchanan kommenterar albumets omslag, ”We took a lyric from one of the songs that exemplified the process of making the record. Head down comes from the term ’Keep your head down and keep on swinging.’ I thought it was fitting and it works perfectly with the album cover.”
Gitarristen Scott Holiday fortsätter, ”I began searching for the right artist for our cover on the interwebs, just mulling around, and very quickly came across Jason Holley. I saw a couple of covers that he had done for Josh Ritter and Ray LaMontagne, which I loved. I was immediately taken aback by his aesthetic and style and felt he had a few pieces already done that I would be into using. I sent some of his images over to Jay and he had the same immediate feeling I did… Which is pretty rare. He could have been from anywhere in the world, but he just so happened to live about 30 minutes away from me, so I gave him a ring and we started talking. We sent him the record and discussed ideas that we felt reflected the music and process. He then created an original piece, painted in oil. The end result is pretty symbolic and interesting — something that, in my opinion, reflects the record beautifully.”
Holiday har även uttalat sig om den musikaliska riktningen på Rival Sons kommande album. Han säger, ”Songs were once again written and recorded on the spot, allowing the listener to really peer in and catch a snapshot of the moment, and our immediate instincts. Most songs were captured in a few takes, not to mention plenty of first-takers. Pretty off the cuff and unadulterated. We have never had a wish to be predictable or sedentary with our music, and this record explores and supports that ethos pretty well. In other words, this record is not Pressure & Time, but delves into a bunch of other musical ideas and sounds. Much more of a ’long-form’ record as a whole. Fist-pumpers, ass-shakers, foot-stompers, air guitaring/bassing/drummers, tear-jerkers, heart-string-pullers, and a few straight up freak outs. That’s all I’ll say for now.”
