The Wood Brothers have announced the release of their next studio album ‘Kingdom In My Mind‘ due January 24 via Honey Jar/Thirty Tigers. The 11-song collection is the band’s most spontaneous and experimental work yet. Recorded over a series of freewheeling, improvised sessions, the album is a reckoning with circumstance, mortality, and human nature. The material finds strength in accepting what lies beyond our control as it hones in on the bittersweet beauty that underlies doubt and pain and sadness with vivid character studies and unflinching self-examination. While the lyrics dig deep, the arrangements are buoyant and transportive, drawing from a broad sonic and stylistic spectrum.
“We all have these little kingdoms inside of our minds,” says Chris Wood. “And without really planning it out, the songs on this album all ended up exploring that idea in some way or another. They look at the ways we deal with our dreams and our regrets and our fears and our loves. They look at the stories we tell ourselves and the ways we balance the darkness and the light.”
On past albums, the band—brothers Oliver and Chris Wood and Jano Rix—would write a batch of songs and then deliberately set out to record them, but when it came to making ‘Kingdom In My Mind,’ they began the process without even realizing it. At the time, the trio thought they were simply breaking in their new Nashville recording studio/rehearsal space, tracking a series of extended instrumental jam sessions as a way to test drive the facility.
“If we had known we were making a record, we probably would have been too self-conscious to play what we played,” reflects Chris. “At the time, we just thought we were jamming to break in our new studio, so we felt free to explore all these different ways of playing together without worrying about form or structure. It was liberating.”
“We weren’t performing songs,” continues Oliver. “We were just improvising and letting the music dictate everything. Somebody would start playing, and then we’d all jump into the groove with them and see where it went. Normally when recording, you’re thinking about your parts and your performances, but with these sessions, we were just reacting to each other and having fun in the moment.”
After listening back, the trio realized there was something undeniably alive and uninhibited in what they captured. So, like a sculptor chipping away at a block of marble, Chris took the sprawling improvisations and carefully chiseled out verses and choruses and bridges and solos until distinctive songs began to take shape. From there, the brothers divvied up the material that spoke to them most, penning lyrics both separately and together as they pondered what it takes to know contentment in our chaotic and confusing world.
The Wood Brothers are currently on the road through the remainder of the year with shows across the Midwest, South Central states and Colorado. In late January, they’ll launch the first leg of their ‘Kingdom in My Mind’ tour that makes stops in the Northeast, including two nights at Webster Hall in New York City and then dips into the Southeast highlighted by a hometown show at The Ryman in Nashville.
‘KINGDOM IN MY MIND’
Track Listing
1. Alabaster
2. Little Bit Sweet
3. Jitterbug Love
4. Cry Over Nothing
5. Don’t Thing About My Death
6. Little Bit Broken
7. The One I Love
8. Little Blue
9. A Dream’s A Dream
10. Satisfied
11. Little Blue (Reprise)
THE WOOD BROTHERS
Tour Dates
10/25 – Placerville, CA – Hangtown Music Festival
11/7 – Roanoke, VA – Shaftman Performance Hall ^
11/8 – Highlands, NC – Highlands Food & Wine Festival ^
11/9 – Louisville, KY – Headliners Music Hall ^
11/10 – Cincinnati, OH – Taft Theatre ^
11/12 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant ^
11/13 – Kansas City, MO – The Truman ^
11/14 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue ^
11/15 – Madison, WI – Barrymore Theatre ^
11/16 – Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue ^
12/3 – Baton Rouge, LA – Manship Theatre ^^
12/4 – Houston, TX – The Heights Theater ^^
12/5 – Austin, TX – Paramount Theatre ^^
12/6 – Dallas, TX – The Kessler Theater ^^
12/7 – Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom ^^
12/9 – Omaha, NE – Slowdown ^^
12/11 – Aspen, CO – Belly Up Aspen ^^
12/12 – Steamboat Springs, CO – Strings Music Festival
12/13 – Boulder, CO – Boulder Theater ^^
12/14 – Boulder, CO – Boulder Theater ^^
12/15 – Breckenridge, CO – Riverwalk Center ^^
1/29 – Baltimore, MD – Ram’s Head Live
1/30 – New York, NY – Webster Hall
1/31 – New York, NY – Webster Hall
2/1 – Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore
2/3 – Toronto, Canada – Mod Club Theatre
2/5 – Rochester, NY – Kodak Center
2/6 – Burlington, VT – Flynn Center for the Performing Arts
2/7 – New Haven, CT – College Street Music Hall
2/8 – Albany, NY – Palace Theatre
2/9 – State College, PA – The State Theatre
2/11 – McKees Rocks, PA – Roxian Theatre
2/12 – Richmond, VA – The National
2/13 – Chattanooga, TN – Walker Theatre
2/14 – Nashville, TN – The Ryman
2/27 – 3/1 – Punta Cana, DR – Avett Brothers at the Beach
^ w/ Nicole Atkins
^^ w/ Katie Pruitt
