‘Towers’ by The Dead Licks | New Album, ‘In Disguise’
Exclusive track premiere of ‘Towers’ by The Dead Licks, taken from their upcoming debut album, ‘In Disguise’, out May 20th.
‘Towers’ is an anthem for Chicago (the city they call home). ‘Towers’ is a slow-burner with an early 00’s indie rock feel. On the single, band member Jack Grbac shares: “Tom [Inzinga] wrote this song in full on an acoustic guitar, he brought it to the band and that’s how it was finished. It’s about us living in the city of Chicago, which we love”.
For any of us, moving on from college means growing up. Moving from your Dayton, Ohio, campus to the tough environment of a city, say. Actually putting that finance degree to use. And for Chicago four-piece The Dead Licks, it also meant growing up musically — both in terms of their compositions, and as performers. Sonically, The Dead Licks’s more grown-up sound is most apparent in terms of one thing: time. Their new album is an unhurried affair, with roomy, often breezy songs that stretch their legs — with many of them clocking in around the five-minute mark, they’re not quite jams. But they evoke a similar spirit, taking pleasure in playing with and lingering over new sounds.
On the album, the band shares: “We were planning on going on a Spring weekend tour until the COVID-19 lockdown hit the Winter of 2020. This album was a collection of songs written and recorded during the pandemic. It was recorded at various studios around the city of Chicago, as well as the band’s apartment. We’re excited to release the album and start working on the next, as we’ve sat with this one for awhile. We plan to play live shows and spread our music as much as possible in the years to come”.
Time is apparent, too, in the new album’s lyrical content, such as on ‘My Wish’, a brooding, slightly stoned-sounding track reminiscent of 90s stalwarts Soundgarden. ‘My Wish’ also features another element that’s newer to the band’s sound — a drum machine. Separated from drummer Gallagher by social distancing protocols (the rest of the bandmates are also housemates), Grbac, Inzinga and McNamara drafted songs using a drum machine before passing the compositions on to Jimmy, who says, “I love electronic music, anyway, so I was down. Plus, it gave me a different view of the writing process”.
The final product is a thoughtful, layered album filled with mature grooves and a perfect reintroduction to a more adult iteration of the band. With it, new Dead Licks are here, and they’re all grown up.
Love the new single. What’s the story behind it?
I had recently gotten COVID-19 and was quarantined from work in November 2020. When I managed to muster some energy a few days in, I was extremely bored and started to write on my acoustic guitar. It was a rare instance where the entire song came to me in an hour or two, first the chords, then the lyrics. I ended up doing a demo and a video for fun that day that we posted on our Instagram. I was inspired by COVID-19. As cliche as that sounds, because I am sure there will be hundreds of songs inspired by it, but I was literally sick with this strange disease that had completely decimated my energy and I just wrote about my feelings towards the whole endeavor that was unfolding in front of everyone’s eyes.. It started as a homage to my hometown, Chicago, then it kind of veered into a song about how different Chicago had already been in November 2020 and how it would never be the same, which it really isn’t the same. It is slowly going back to normal but it is still different now. It’s a love letter to my favorite city as well as a reflection on the pandemics effects on it.
What is a Dead Licks studio session like?
Studio sessions can be the most fun rewarding thing in the world, or literally the most tedious, sanity melting experience for us. Most of the time we’re having fun, sipping beer and laying our respective instruments to tracks. Other times, we are struggling to hit takes, struggling to find rhythm and groove, typical band stuff. We usually arrive and try to lay down drums and bass and go from there. Studio sessions involve a lot of beer drinking and general hanging out on weekends, and on weekdays it’s more serious trying to get work done and over with as we are usually really tired from our day jobs.
What does the future hold for all things Dead Licks? Anything to look out for?
We have an album coming out in May, and we are really trying to hit the ground running with shows after. Check out our Instagram for the most up to date info on gigs, as well as our website, twitter and Facebook. Website will be up in the next few weeks.
The Dead Licks Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Bandcamp / SoundCloud / YouTube
