NEW YORK (AP) — Ten studio albums finished, the Dave Matthews Band finds itself in a great place, possibly even at a brand new starting.
“The band is really gelled right now,” says singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews. “We’re all, at least for now, shining favorable lights on each other and laughing a lot and enjoying making music together.”
The seven members — together with new keyboardist Buddy Sturdy — launched the 12-track album “Walk Around the Moon” on Friday — the band’s first studio album since 2018 — and plan a summer season tour.
“We’ve come to this place in an interesting way, but it wasn’t unnatural,” says Matthews. “We’ve had some good fights that probably would scare people, but with the goal being that we could find some common ground. And I think we did.”
“Walk Around the Moon” is a assorted set, with the tracks veering from small and intimate to brassy and political, with a dirty groove propelling “Break Free,” a nostalgia-tinged and brooding “Monsters” and the band completely cooking with “The Only Thing.”
Many of the songs have been written through the pandemic, with members sending audio recordsdata to one another, which can clarify why the sound is so eclectic. They did not initially plan for an album; it type of simply occurred.
“I look forward to taking this band together in one room to make another record,” says Matthews. “I’m jumping the gun because having made 10 does feel like, if nothing else, we haven’t found anything better to do. Everyone could probably find a gig somewhere else. So it says something that we haven’t left each other yet. “
The jam band, with their mixture of funk, folk-rock, jazz, blues and pop, are hoping so as to add to their catalogue of seven No. 1 albums and hits like “American Baby” and “The Space Between.”
The pandemic hit the Matthews family at a chaotic time — his daughters beginning school and his son beginning highschool. The Matthews household was fortunate to have the ability to escape into the woods close to his Virginia home.
That impressed the title observe, a psychedelic journey right into a forest. “It’s blue and it’s red/Found a new door inside of my head/How could I go to bed/Think I’ll walk around the moon instead,” he sings.
One other album spotlight is “Madman’s Eyes,” a strong music about gun violence, with the lyrics “Don’t sacrifice another child/It’s not black and white/’Less you’re looking through a madman’s eyes.”
The problem hits near home: Matthews famous that there had been a capturing at a neighborhood public college and that his daughters have misplaced associates to gun violence.
“How is it possible that it is wrong for me to want to make my children safer in the world?” he asks. “I don’t understand how anybody with a straight face can tell me that I’m somehow against freedom if I think there should be more control.”
Matthews has been dismayed, because the tradition these days appears to be taken over by loud speaking heads on TV or on-line making points absolutes — clear proper and clear fallacious.
“I think all my life I’ve felt like there’s much more gray in the world,” he says. “Everything is more nuanced than that. We’re not always good and we’re not always right.”
The Dave Matthews Band will not waste any time hitting the street. On Friday — album launch day — they’re kicking off a tour in Texas that may take them to greater than 20 states. It concludes with their annual three-day, Labor Day weekend celebration at Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington state.
What precise songs the band will play stay is at all times in flux, however Matthews says he feels the group is at a brand new starting and that there is a better risk of bringing outdated music again.
“Everything is kind of new. We have a somewhat new perspective looking at each other, and I feel like we’re a little more versatile than we have been,” he says. “I feel very lucky when I walk on stage right now. And hopefully that inspires some confidence in the audience as well.”
Whereas he admires youthful artists who incorporate dance into their live shows, Matthews will stick with his herky-jerky shuffles, what one critic referred to as “nerdy dad-rock dancing.”
“When I see Taylor Swift, I think it’s really cool when the show is such an incredible performance like hers. And I love all the synchronicity and all this unity, which I hope we have some of at least musically speaking,” he says.
“But it makes me quite sure that we definitely don’t want to bring any dance steps into our performance. We should just stick to, at least some way, with what we know.”
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