The Jayhawks new collaboration
The Jayhawks
Release ‘XOXO’ July 10 2020
Seminal Minnesota outfit The Jayhawks have announced their new album XOXO will release on July 10 via Sham/Thirty Tigers.
XOXO will mark a new era in collaboration, with songwriting and lead vocal contributions from all four longtime band members – Gary Louris, Marc Perlman, Karen Grotberg and Tim O’Reagan. Along with the announcement, The Jayhawks have released a new video with Louris performing a stripped-down version of “Living In A Bubble”, a song that laments our ratings-driven news cycle.
“‘Living In A Bubble’ lyrically is a reaction to the 24 hour news cycle and how the media can fan the flames of fear if one let’s it,” says Louris. “It is also a commentary about data collection, Big Brother, and our obsession with devices, while never being truly present in the here and now. Musically it is an homage to the great Harry Nilsson, and is driven by the amazing piano playing of Karen Grotberg.”
XOXO was recorded over two weeks holed up together at the secluded Pachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, as well as at Flowers Studio, founded by their friend and music stalwart the late Ed Ackerson.
“It was time to open things up,” explains Louris. “The Jayhawks are a true band, one where every-one’s an equal, and we wanted to make a record that really reflected that.”
Elaborating on the process, Perlman says, “Some songs we molded together from scratch, but others had been fully written by one or the other of us. We didn’t worry too much about who penned what, because after all these years of playing together, everything we do just naturally comes out sounding like a Jayhawks song.”
One of the most enduring and beloved bands of the last thirty years, The Jayhawks have continued their success since returning to the core members from the late-90’s lineup. Their two most recent releases, 2016’s Paging Mr. Proust and 2018’s Back Roads and Abandoned Motels continue the amazingly high standards from one of our favourite bands at Listening Through The Lens.
XOXO Track Listing
1. This Forgotten Town
2. Dog town Days
3. Living In A Bubble
4. Ruby
5. Homecoming
6. Society Pages
7. Illuminate
8. Bitter Pill
9. Across My Field
10. Little Victories
11. Down To The Farm
12. Looking Up Your Number
Here’s a clip of the full band doing an older song “Two Hearts”:
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The Jayhawks new collaboration
