Philadelphia’s Dr. Dog will release their new album entitled B-Room October 4th on Anti-. Showcasing some of their most mature, streamlined and soulful writing to date, the record is the culmination of a complete overhaul of the band’s writing and recording process, which finds them in a new self-built studio, writing songs live in rehearsal, and using the rock solid groove of the band, honed through workmanlike touring, as a powerful compositional tool.
B-Room is a soul album. It may be obvious as the first track opens with the Gamble and Huff inspired, “The Truth.” But as the album progresses the music continues to take on a soulfulness that is vibrant in its simplicity. As McMicken put it, “The hallmark of soul music for me is that the arrangements are simple rather than virtuosic, and that the sound creates a feeling that is intuitive rather than intellectual.” To listen to the “The Truth” go here – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUnpNq7U2Qk
The story begins with jackhammers instead of guitars. After ending the lease at home studio “Meth Beach” where they had been headquartered for the past eight years, the musicians took on the commitment of constructing an entirely new recording space within a now defunct silversmith mill. As the band’s bassist-vocalist Toby Leaman put it, “The whole process of recording really started with building the studio.”
As the band now understands, making a record is a lot like doing construction. Both require a similar amount of frustration, intensity, and cohesion. By building the space first and releasing all of that emotion, the band was then free to engage in their creative process without the expectation or preconception that they admittedly had brought into other sessions. Recorded primarily in live takes, the songs seamlessly fuse the spontaneity of the band’s live performances with the intricacy of their kaleidoscopic composition. Both Leaman and guitarist Scott McMicken credit this sonic evolution with relying less on the pre-produced demos and more with a reliance on the musicians surrounding them.
B–Room Track Listing:
- The Truth
- Broken Heart
- Minding the Usher
- Distant Light
- Phenomenon
- Too Weak to Ramble
- Long Way Down
- Cuckoo
- Twilight
- Rock & Roll
- Love
- Nellie
