The War On Drugs

Lately, when I’ve been hungry for some good, uncomplicated, headshaking, soul-lifting songwriting, the kind that drops from the summer sky like a sudden shower and leaves a rainbow in its wake, I’ve turned to Slave Ambient, the sophomore release from The War On Drugs.

Recorded over the last four years in front man Adam Granduciel’s home studio in Philadelphia, Jeff Ziegler’s Uniform Recording, and Echo Mountain in Asheville, NC, the album is a drive to the ocean, windows down, head back, shades on. Acoustic and electric guitars, synthesizers, drums, and Granduciel’s voice, rambling and drifting and howling, together recalling heat waves, long days, Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Adams, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

In “Baby Missiles,” The War On Drugs match an instantly familiar melody with a motorik beat and a heavy dose of hazy nostalgia.

The video was culled and edited from Adam Granduciel’s collection of super 8 film footage. The kaleidoscopic work throughout finds its raw source material in Granduciel’s photography, the same exposed film featured on the lovely, evocative artwork for Slave Ambient. The video is directed by Labour and produced by Greencard Pictures.

The War On Drugs’ sophomore record, Slave Ambient, will be released on August 16 by Secretly Canadian.

COMMENTS
Patrick Butler's picture

Stephen,

 

Awesome release.  Thanks for the post!

 

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