Award-winning singer, songwriter, guitarist, and performer Anders Osborne announced today his new album Picasso’s Villa will release on April 26th through 5th Ward/Missing Piece Records. The 17th full-length from the veteran Swedish-born, New Orleans-based artist, Osborne described Picasso’s Villa as a condensed story about living in America between 2018-2021; the fears, confusion, deep joy, and peace achieved through true friendship, family, community, meditation, and detachment from ego. He also shared the official video for the lead single “Bewildered,” a politically charged tour de force through four decades of civil unrest in the country.
After an illustrious and far-reaching career that spans almost four decades, Anders Osborne came to a crossroads and decided to slow down and take a step back in order to get his bearings and push forward. He went through a period of refocus and self-renewal as he searched for ways to recenter himself and rediscover his purpose. Throughout this process of meditation, looking inwards, and focusing on his mental health and recovery, he began to find healing. These new songs are what surfaced during that time, resulting in some of Osborne’s strongest songwriting to date; a reflection of the joy, playfulness, excitement, and freedom of his rejuvenation.
For Osborne, who has been in a twelve-step program for fifteen years, “The biggest change in getting sober was the focus on meditation and prayer, just looking more inward. When I’m sleeping in 140 different beds a year, eating unhealthy foods, the meditation is what keeps me centered. Holding myself in that sacred space for a while is what makes it possible for me to do all this.”
Recorded at Esplanade Studios in New Orleans, Picasso’s Villa features an all-star cast of backing musicians, including Waddy Wachtel (Warren Zevon), Chad Cromwell (Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Joe Walsh), and Bob Glaub (Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne). Sonically, the album captures a balance between the heavy, Crazy Horse-inspired rock present in Osborne’s raucous live shows, while simultaneously leaning into the more contemplative singer-songwriter roots that inspired his music from the very beginning.
Track Listing:
01) Dark Decatur Love
02) Reckless Heart
03) Real Good Dirt
04) Picasso’s Villa
05) Returning To My Bones
06) Bewildered
07) To Live
08) Le Grande Zombie
Tour Dates:
04/30 – New Orleans, LA @ Chickie Wah Wah
05/02 – New Orleans, LA @ Republic NOLA
05/03 – New Orleans, LA @ New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
05/04 – New Orleans, LA @ The Civic Theatre
05/26 – St. Augustine, FL @ Saint Augustine Amphitheatre
