Beloved rockers The War On Drugs return this week with their first new LP in four years. Here’s everything you need to know about I Don’t Live Here Anymore...
Beloved rockers The War On Drugs return this week with their first new LP in four years. Here’s everything you need to know about I Don’t Live Here Anymore...
A little background?
Prior to 2014’s Lost in the Dream, The War On Drugs were probably best known for being the band that eccentric troubadour Kurt Vile had once been a part of.
Led by enigmatic multi-instrumentalist Adam Granduciel, the group’s fuzzy take on power pop had given them a hardcore fanbase, but nothing to trouble the mainstream. But, after scoring rave reviews for that album, their third, a lot of people got caught up by the band’s warm, swirling, pseudo-psychedelic power pop and things started to change.
That album earned the band a two-album deal with Atlantic Records, the first of which, A Deeper Understanding, arrived in 2017. The upward curve continued, with the band finishing the European leg of touring for that LP in the O2 Arena, setting them up nicely for writing and recording whatever would come next.
To make the album, Granduciel, bassist Dave Hartley, and multi-instrumentalist Anthony LaMarca relocated to upstate New York to begin thrashing things out. Lengthy jams were refined and fine-tuned before the band undertook a rigorous recording process. A full seven studios across the United States were utilised in the making of the LP, including iconic spots like New York's Electric Lady and Los Angeles' Sound City.
The result is a 10-track record that has been built, torn down and rebuilt over and over again, such is Granduciel’s appetite for perfection.
Who’s producing it?
Shawn Everett, who has recently been at the boards with The Killers, Cold War Kids and King Princess, co-produces alongside Granduciel.
Any special guests?
Alt-poppers Lucius offers up guest backing vocals on the title track, but other than that it’s just the band itself.
What does it sound like?
Somehow, this album heralds a tightening of The War On Drugs’ sonics. Granduciel has become masterful at creating warm walls of sound and that’s still in play here, but, as laid out by such an extensive recording process and such a tight tracklisting, things do feel more disciplined. This isn’t some pitch for mainstream radio, but it does feel like a band more determined to be more focused and not to let things drift.
Does it deliver?
Granduciel’s journey continues to be a fascinating one. This is his most defined, disciplined and intricate display of sonic power thus far and is well worth investing in.
