The Chris Robinson Brotherhood are scheduled to release their new album on July 26. Anyway You Love, We Know How You Feel is being released via Chris Robinson's Silver Arrow Records.
They recently shared a single from the upcoming album. You can check out "Narcissus Soaking Wet" below as well as a list of tour dates.
"It was an opportunity to see where our expression could take us. For us, when it comes to making records, the looser it gets the better," says Robinson. "It's all about taking our intuition and following it to where our ideas can really manifest themselves. This turned out to be the most spontaneous record I've ever been a part of."
Indeed, when the Chris Robinson Brotherhood entered the studio to begin recording the album, no one knew just what to expect. These would be the band's first recordings with new drummer Tony Leone (Ollabelle, Levon Helm) and their first time producing themselves. Robinson purposely left as much open-ended as possible. Rather than coming into the studio with a collection of finished songs as he had in the past, he would present the group with sketches—a verse and melody here, a chorus and chord progression there—and let the band follow its collective muse to bring the music to life. They’d lean into the improvisational nature that makes their live shows such enthralling spectacles and thrive on the unexpected.
"All it takes is one good, small idea, and then if everyone's focused and in the moment, a few hours later, you can have something that you realize you'll be playing for as long as you're making music," Robinson continues. "I think when everyone's aware that that's the sort of magic that we're looking for. More than any other session that I've ever been a part of, that's how all of these songs were done."The album kicks off with "Narcissus Soaking Wet," a psychedelic toe-tapper that marks Robinson's first co-write with keyboardist Adam MacDougall. It touches on everything from Dylan and Parliament Funkadelic to psych rock and Chicago rhythm and blues. "Ain't It Hard But Fair" calls to mind the soulful Americana of The Band, while "Oak Apple Day" is a mediation on life in the CRB, and "Forever As The Moon" came together in a stream of consciousness between The CRB's lead guitarist Neal Casal and Robinson. "Leave My Guitar Alone" was a song Robinson had been sitting on for nearly 15 years, but only once he presented it to the rest of the band did it roar to life in a way that had eluded him for more than a decade. Some of Robinson's finest writing to date arrives in the album's final minutes, with the country-soul, gospel-tinged closer "California Hymn," which finds him singing "Glory glory hallelujah / It's time to spread the news / Though my good words may sound profane to some."
"This band is about being a part of a community, it's our little CRB culture," explains Robinson. "These are our services when we play our music. And when it's at its best, we feel like the music makes a connection with people that's on a level that has nothing to do with commerce or nostalgia. There's some other gravity that keeps us all together in those moments, and it's representative of that kind of magic spell we're chasing."
Tour Dates
- June 2 - Hunter, NY - Mountain Jam
- June 4 - Atlanta, GA - Chandler Park Music & Food Festival
- June 5 - Knoxville, TN - Bijou Theater
- June 6 - Birmingham, AL - Iron City
- June 9 - New Orleans, LA - Tipitina’s
- June 10 - Dallas, TX - Gas Monkey Live
- June 11 - Austin TX - Scoot Inn
- June 12 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
- June 14 - Little Rock, AR - Revolution Music Hall
- June 15 - Jackson, MS - Duling Hall
- June 16 - Memphis, TN - New Daisy Theatre
- June 18 - Bend, OR - 4 Peaks Music Festival
- July 1 - Quincy, CA - High Sierra Music Festival
- July 15 - Charleston, SC - The Music Farm
- July 16 - Orlando, FL - The Beacham
- July 17 - Fort Lauderdale, FL - Culture Room
- July 19 - St. Petersburg, FL - The State Theatre
- July 21 - Macon, GA - Cox Capital Theatre
- July 22 - Augusta, GA - Sky City
- July 23 - Wilmington, NC - Greenfield Lake Amphitheater
- July 24 - Norfolk, VA - The Norva
- July 26 - Asbury Park, NJ - The Stone Pony
- July 27 - Annapolis, MD - Rams Head Onstage
- July 29 - Fairfield, CT - The Warehouse
- July 30 - Beverly, MA - The Cabot
- July 31 - Plymouth, NH - Flying Monkey
- August 5 - Stowe, VT - The Rusty Nail
- August 6 - Hartford, CT - Infinity Hall
- August 7 - Newton, NJ - The Newton Theatre
- August 25 - Arrington, VA - LOCKN’
- September 16 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheater
