Photo Credit: Owen Ela
American singer/songwriter Justin Townes Earle has been silent for just over two years, but fans who have been anxiously waiting now have some relief.
Earle has signed to New West Records and along with the signing comes the announcement of a new album, Kids in the Street, due out May 26.
The 12-song tracklist was produced by Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes, First Aid Kit), making this the first time Earle has worked with an outside producer.
While deep emotion and contemplation have always been hallmarks of Earle’s music, fans might be caught slightly off-guard by a shift in tone on this new project, as Earle is stepping to a new, and unquestionably more positive, period of his life.
“Life has changed a lot for me in the last few years,” Earle states.
“I got married and am getting ready to become a father, and this is the first record that I’ve written since I’ve been married. There’s definitely an uplifting aspect to this record in a lot of ways, because I’m feeling pretty positive.”
In response to this newfound responsibility, Earle has embraced sobriety, and the combined changes have him looking ahead and outward instead of inward.
“When I wrote songs in the past, I was looking in on what I was feeling, but this record’s more about looking outward on what’s happening, and writing about subjects like gentrification and inner city strife.”
Several tracks off the new album reference the lower-middle-class neighborhoods of Nashville that Earle grew up in, which Earle (and others) claim have lost their character to the “creeping scourge of gentrification.”
Along with the influence of outside producers, a first for Earle, the new album will have a soul influence and “a deeper connection to the blues than anything I’ve done before,” Earle claims.
Kids in the Street will be available on all the standard physical and digital formats on May 26, but you can pre-order your copy via PledgeMusic. Peep the tracklist below.
Kids in the Street:
Champagne Corolla
Maybe A Moment
What’s She Crying For
15-25
Kids In The Street
Faded Valentine
What’s Goin’ Wrong
Short Hair Woman
Same Old Stagolee
If I Was The Devil
Trouble Is
There Go A Fool
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