Legendary indie-rock band Grandaddy will release their hotly anticipated first new studio album in seven years Blu Wav this Friday, February 16th via Dangerbird Records. The album has earned acclaim spanning Pitchfork, Stereogum, NPR, Rolling Stone, Vulture, FADER, MOJO, Under The Radar, Uncut, American Songwriter, Record Collector, PASTE, Uproxx and Brooklyn Vegan with radio airplay at Sirius XMU, BBC 6Music, KEXP Seattle, Radio X, WXPN Philadelphia, KCMP Minneapolis, BBC Radio Scotland, KCSN Los Angeles, WFUV New York City, KUTX Austin and more! Fans can also tune in to NPR Morning Edition for their on-air feature this ___, February ??. Today, the band shares the official video for final album preview track ‘Long as I’m Not the One‘, created and directed by auteur Aaron Beckham. Inspired by old Hollywood and the Three Amigos, the visual leans into classic country motifs of lost love and heartache by focusing on a lonely cowboy alone under the darkening sky with just his campfire and lingering thoughts.
Blu Wav is inspired by the overwhelming beauty of nature to the mundane moments that spark life’s strongest memories. With the album title meant to be a literal mash-up of “bluegrass” and “new wave”, the new collection has a distinct feel, a uniform vibe, and a somewhat unexpected sound. It was conceived as Grandaddy maestro Jason Lytle was driving through the Nevada desert, and Patti Page’s ‘Tennessee Waltz’ came across the classic country station on the radio. He was immediately intrigued by the possibilities of what it might sound like to keep the slow sway and sweet, simple lyrics of the bluegrass waltz while adding layers of dense synthesisers and the electronics of new wave. It incorporates the lo-fi lushness and sometimes-psychedelic orchestration Grandaddy is known for with Lytle’s first foray into true country. Seven of its 13 songs are waltzes, and as Lytle notes, “there’s an inordinate amount of pedal steel.”
1. Blu Wav
2. Cabin in My Mind
3. Long as I’m Not the One
4. You’re Going to Be Fine and I’m Going to Hell
5. Watercooler
6. Let’s Put this Pinto on the Moon
7. On a Train or Bus
8. Jukebox App
9. Yeehaw Ai in the Year 2025
10. Ducky, Boris and Dart
11. East Yosemite
12. Nothin’ to Lose
13. Blu Wav Buh Bye
Pre-orders:
Pre-order Blu Wav here: https://ffm.to/bluwav
Photo credit – Dustin Aksland