Albert Hammond Jr. Previews Upcoming Album ‘Melodies on Hiatus’ With Eight New Songs

    Albert Hammond Jr. has shared eight new songs from his forthcoming album Melodies on Hiatus. The 19-track LP, out June 23, has already been previewed with the lead single ‘100-99’. Check out the new tracks below, along with a video for ‘Old Man’.

    Albert Hammond Jr. co-wrote Melodies on Hiatus remotely with Simon Wilcox, who penned lyrics to Hammond’s demos. “I’m going through changes — and these songs reflect behaviors and moments of mine — but as time has gone on, they have taken shape and become universal. I think that’s a testament to the words Simon wrote and how they fit with the melodies,” Hammond said in a statement, continuing:

    I think this is the best collection of music that I have made. I wasn’t trying to make a double album; I wanted to make a deconstruction of a band. Gus and I would make demos, and then we would build them out with a band and expand on them. This time we thought, why don’t we leave them in their drum machine demo form and make an album like that? What a contrast to Francis Trouble.

    This is the first time I’ve written lyrics with someone like this. She wrote lyrics to my demos. So there were phrasings I might not even keep if I were to write lyrics, but she kept some of those — I think it’s very interesting, little one-off things you say in the moment, she would write around them. It weirdly sounds and feels more like me than when I write them myself. I think it’s clearer because she is so talented.

    I was in one place when I made the album and then another place now, and the music and lyrics still hit as hard. That’s the meaning of it. I wrote it in one way, life ended up in a different way, and it still resonates with me. I think it has a story, an arc, and I tried to make it varied musically and melodically so it felt like something spanning a career and not just an album. This is this guy’s life, sonically.

    I don’t know what more I can say about it. You also need both sides — let’s not get so serious about it; it’s just music, you know? It’s just that music feels serious because it can hit your unconscious mind or your soul. It hits somewhere in your gut and makes you think in a different way. It can change your perspective on stuff. And that’s so cool.

    Konstantinos Pappis
    Konstantinos Pappis
    Konstantinos Pappis is a writer, journalist, and music editor at Our Culture. His work has also appeared in Pitchfork, GIGsoup, and other publications. He currently lives in Athens, Greece.

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