In the run-up to the release of Rival Sons new record Darkfighter (out next Friday 2nd June), Jay Buchanan and Scott Holiday from Rival Sons stopped by The Crypt Studio in North London and filmed a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”. Taken from the 1963 album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, it’s a special choice for Jay Buchanan, he states:
This Dylan track was one my Pops would sing in the living room when I was really young. He’s real shy and didn’t sing a lot, so whenever he did it stuck with me. It’s strange to think that as a kid, through song, you grow up very aware of heartbreak long before you’ll ever experience it.
Speaking about the imminent release of new album Darkfighter Scott Holiday states:
We could not be more excited to finally release this record and deliver you Darkfighter, the first of our two releases coming this year. For a band who have been used to putting out albums every other year, it’s been a long wait, but we promise you it will be worth it.
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The band have been playing new material on the road in the States where they are on an extensive North America with a UK/Europe run later this year:
- October 13, 2023 – London Roundhouse, UK
- October 14, 2023 – NX – Newcastle, UK
- October 16, 2023 – Glasgow, Barrowland Ballroom, UK
- October 17, 2023 – O2 Academy – Birmingham, UK
- October 18, 2023 – Manchester Academy – Manchester, UK
- October 20, 2023 – Cambridge Corn Exchange – Cambridge, UK
- October 21, 2023 – O2 Academy – Bristol, UK
- October 22, 2023 – O2 Guildhall – Southampton, UK
- October 24, 2023 – La Carrière – Nantes, France
- October 25, 2023 – Le Radiant – Lyon, France
- October 27, 2023 – L’Olympia – Paris, France
- October 28, 2023 – Les Docks – Lausanne, Switzerland
- October 29, 2023 – Alcatraz – Milan, Italy
- October 31, 2023 – Gasometer – Vienna, Austria
- November 1, 2023 – X-TRA – Zurich, Switzerland
- November 2, 2023 – Theaterfabrik – Munich, Germany
- November 4, 2023 – Lucerna Music Bar – Prague, Czech Republic
- November 5, 2023 – Klub Stodola – Warsaw, Poland
- November 6, 2023 – Music Club B17 – Poznan, Poland
- November 8, 2023 – Huxleys – Berlin, Germany
- November 9, 2023 – Melkweg Max – Amsterdam, Netherlands [SOLD OUT]
- November 10, 2023 – Kantine – Cologne, Germany [SOLD OUT]
- November 12, 2023 – Ancienne Belgique – Brussels, Belgium [SOLD OUT]
- November 13, 2023 – Grosse Freiheit 36 – Hamburg, Germany
- November 14, 2023 – The Grey Hall – Copenhagen, Denmark
- November 16, 2023 – Forum Scene – Bergen, Norway
- November 17, 2023 – Sentrum Scene – Oslo, Norway
- November 18, 2023 – B-K – Stockholm, Sweden
- November 20, 2023 – House of Culture – Helsinki, Finland
- November 21, 2023 – Tampere Hall – Tampere, Finland
Darkfighter will be accompanied by companion volume, Lightbringer, arriving later this year. Both produced by long-time collaborator and 8x GRAMMY® Award-winner Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell). The two new LPs marks the first new music from Rival Sons in more than four years, following 2019’s critically acclaimed, GRAMMY® Award-nominated sixth studio album, Feral Roots.
Expanding on the two-album set, Buchanan comments:
In comparison to our previous records, we certainly took our time both writing and recording this collection, when we set out, the intention was mostly to dig as deep as possible. Even in the beginning before the body had formed, we agreed to throw the map away and chop our way through the woods to make a new path. Then lockdown hit and it felt like the whole damn country decided to throw the map away too.
Buchanan continues:
For myself, 2022 was like an eight-stage rocket of life changing events. Every time I thought I was finished writing, a new bull would come tearing through the clothesline and I’d have to illustrate it in some way. By the end, there were two different sides to the same story being told. On one side, you’re fighting the darkness and, on the other, you’re bringing your own light to where there is none. One side in a corner, on the ropes, and the other advancing, cleaning the ring. Without an intermission, a refractory period, the collection would be too big a bite, so splitting it in two was the only way to do it.
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Header image by Pamela Littky
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