The Jayhawks return with new album XOXO on July 10th
With the walls starting to close in you begin to wonder how things are going, both mentally and physically, when out of the blue an old friend comes back into your life and things seem to be a little bit better. The old friend, in this case, is not someone I know personally but a new song by The Jayhawks. ‘This Forgotten Town’ is the new single from their upcoming XOXO album due July 10th via Sham/Thirty Tigers. The really good news is it sounds exactly how you’d like a new Jayhawks song to sound and that works for me. More info about the album and the first single follows:
The Jayhawks have shared “This Forgotten Town”, the opening song on the band’s new album, XOXO, which releases July 10 via Sham/Thirty Tigers. Written jointly by Marc Perlman and Gary Louris, “This Forgotten Town” finds Louris trading off lead vocals with Tim O’Reagan as Karen Grotberg joins in on harmonies, setting the stage for the band’s most collaborative album to date. Rolling Stone featured the track and called it a “jangly roots-pop gem.”
“Marc brought the chord progression for this song, and then I started singing a melody on top of it. We wrote the lyrics together,” explains Louris. “A lot of the time when I’m working on lyrics, I’m thinking as much about the sound of the words as the meaning. I like to leave space between the lines for interpretation.” Perlman adds, “Introducing different voices throughout the song added a new dimension to telling the story. We approached it much like we did the whole record – more collaboration in the writing and more sharing of lead vocals than in the past.”
XOXO is The Jayhawks’ most diverse and wide-ranging collection of songs, marking a new era for the beloved band. For the first time, the album includes lead vocal and songwriting contributions from all four members – Louris, Perlman, Grotberg and O’Reagan – bringing a new energy and confidence to The Jayhawks’ signature harmonies and infectious melodies. The group’s camaraderie is at the heart and soul of this release, showcasing an unrelenting ability to evolve while staying true to their authentic sound. XOXO is the product of a group more inspired and more itself than ever before, and reminds us why The Jayhawks have remained such an influential and respected band for over 30 years.
The Jayhawks have continued their success since returning to the core members from the late-90’s lineup, releasing Paging Mr. Proust in 2016 and Back Roads and Abandoned Motels in 2018 to widespread critical acclaim. The culmination of five years spent growing even more together, XOXO is a sonically and emotionally cohesive album that stands as a testament to The Jayhawks’ consistent forward motion.