It’s a great time to be a Yes fan. Barely a week after the band announced the release of a brand new album (‘The Quest’, due in October), guitarist Steve Howe has confirmed the release of a new volume of ‘Homebrew’, his ongoing series of archive releases.
‘Homebrew 7’ will be released via Cargo Records on July 30th, and will present fans with twenty one unreleased tracks which, as before, range from short instrumental sketches to complete songs. Often a fascinating look into Howe’s working practices, previous releases have given fans the early versions of GTR’s ‘Sketches In The Sun’ and the quirky ‘Bumpy Ride’, later to become an important part of the ‘Fly From Here’ suite. ‘Homebrew 7’ is said to not feature anything that has been issued in a different guise before, nor will it feature stuff that’ll be reworked in future, making it potentially the most vital ‘Homebrew’ to date.
A full press release and track listing can be explored below.
Steve Hewitt is a singer songwriter based in the south east of England. Chances are, you’ve never heard of him, but that’s fine: he’s probably never heard of you either. For the unfamiliar, Steve’s acoustic based sounds have a classic, rootsy feel and between some well crafted folk, pop and country material, his 2019 LP ‘Bigger Than Words’ was one of the year’s best discs.
New music from Bruce Springsteen is always welcome…and next month he releases his twentieth studio album ‘Letter To You’. The twelve track album follows 2019’s well-received ‘Western Stars’.
More details about the new record can be found in the below press release along with the video for the title track.
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Bruce Springsteen’s new studio album with the E Street Band, ‘Letter To You’, will be released by Columbia Records on 23rd October. A rock album fuelled by the band’s heart-stopping, house-rocking signature sound, the 12-track ‘Letter To You’ is Springsteen’s 20th studio album and was recorded at his home studio in New Jersey.
“I love the emotional nature of ‘Letter To You,’” says Springsteen. “And I love the sound of the E Street Band playing completely live in the studio, in a way we’ve never done before, and with no overdubs. We made the album in only five days, and it turned out to be one of the greatest recording experiences I’ve ever had.”
‘Letter to You’ includes nine recently written Springsteen songs as well as new recordings of three of his legendary, but previously unreleased 1970’s compositions, ‘Janey Needs a Shooter,’ ‘If I Was the Priest’ and ‘Song for Orphans.’ Springsteen is joined on ‘Letter To You’ by Roy Bittan, Nils Lofgren, Patti Scialfa, Garry Tallent, Stevie Van Zandt, Max Weinberg, Charlie Giordano and Jake Clemons. The album was produced by Ron Aniello with Bruce Springsteen, mixed by Bob Clearmountain and mastered by Bob Ludwig. ‘Letter To You’ is Springsteen’s first performance with the E Street Band since ‘The River’ 2016 tour, which was named the year’s top global tour by both Billboard and Pollstar.
Bruce Springsteen’s recording career spans over 40 years, beginning with 1973’s ‘Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ’ (Columbia Records). He has garnered 20 Grammys, won an Oscar and a Tony, been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, received a Kennedy Center Honour and was MusiCares’ 2013 Person of the Year. Springsteen’s memoir ‘Born to Run’ (Simon & Schuster) and its companion album ‘Chapter and Verse’ were released in September 2016 and he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in November 2016. His historic 236-show run of ‘Springsteen on Broadway’ at Jujamcyn’s Walter Kerr Theatre from October 2017 to December 2018 also yielded an accompanying soundtrack album and Netflix special. In 2019, Springsteen released ‘Western Stars,’ his first studio album in five years, and together with longtime collaborator Thom Zimny he co-directed ‘Western Stars,’ a feature film released through Warner Bros.
LETTER TO YOU
1. One Minute You’re Here
2. Letter To You
3. Burnin’ Train
4. Janey Needs A Shooter
5. Last Man Standing
6. The Power Of Prayer
7. House Of A Thousand Guitars
8. Rainmaker
9. If I Was The Priest
10. Ghosts
11. Song For Orphans
12. I’ll See You In My Dreams
It’s been three years since Canadian alt-rock band Dearly Beloved visited UK shores and even longer since they last released an album. There is finally some good news for lovers of this underrated band, as a new album entitled ‘Times Square Discount’ is due for October release. The band will be promoting the record on a long Euro tour with Lou Barlow’s Sebadoh.
The last few years have been very much a case of “onward and upward” for The Radio Buzzkills. The St. Louis pop-punkers released their EP ‘The Quick & The Cheap’ in April 2016 and just five months later plans were afoot for the band to share a stage with their hero and Screeching Weasel co-founder, John Jughead.
Their tenacious and never-say-die attitude led to the Buzzkills working with another of their heroes, Dave Parasite, on the first full length album the following year. Released early 2018, ‘Get Fired!’ was a masterpiece of pop punk. With a couple of Parasite co-writes and an amazing production job, The Buzzkills had made a classic record, their very own equivalent of Screeching Weasel’s ‘Anthem For A New Tomorrow’.
