Albert Hammond Jr, best known as the lead guitarist in The Strokes, has announced his fifth solo album, Melodies on Hiatus, out June 23rd on Red Bull Records. What’s more, he’s shared a handful of supporting tour dates (grab tickets here) and lead single “100-99” featuring Goldlink.
Besides GoldLink, Melodies on Hiatus features Rainsford, Steve Stevens, and Matt Helders. It was co-written remotely with Simon Wilcox, with premium mastering from Dave Cooley (Paramore, Spoon, Tame Impala) and mixing by Tony Hoffer (Beck, Air, M83). Pre-orders are ongoing.
“100-99” was partially inspired by the ’90s hip-hop Hammond Jr grew up listening to, he explained in a statement. “I would always gravitate towards the melodic hooks in the songs I heard on the radio, specifically anything Dr. Dre was producing or rapping on,” he said. “Years later, I noticed myself pulling from the style of those melodic lines in my guitar work, even though it wasn’t obvious to anyone else as I was so directly associated with being in a rock band.”
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He continued, “‘100-99’ was something I’ve wanted to do for some time — work with a rapper over a beat and guitar part I wrote — and it’s really exciting that I was able to do it with GoldLink.” Watch the music video, directed by Angela Ricciardi and Silken Weinberg, below.
The brief “AHJ On Hiatus Tour” kicks off in New York City on September 14th and will make subsequent stops in San Francisco and Los Angeles. See the full schedule below.
Tickets go on sale Friday, April 7th at 10:00 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster. Once tickets are on sale, you can also find them at StubHub, where orders are 100% guaranteed through StubHub’s FanProtect program. StubHub is a secondary market ticketing platform, and prices may be higher or lower than face value, depending on demand.
Hammond Jr’s last solo album was 2018’s Francis Trouble. Back in January, he told 89.9FM WKCR’s The Shaky Experience that he could see The Strokes never breaking up.
Melodies on Hiatus Artwork:
Melodies on Hiatus Tracklist:
01. 100-99 (feat. GoldLink)
02. Downtown Fred
03. Old Man
04. Darlin’
05. Thoughtful Distress (feat. Matt Helders and Steve Stevens)
06. Libertude
07. Memo of Hate
08. Home Again
09. I Got You
10. Caught by Night
11. Dead Air
12. One Chance
13. Remember (feat. Rainsford)
14. 818
15. Fast Kitten
16. I’d Never Leave
17. Never Stop
18. False Alarm
19. Alright Tomorrow (feat. Rainsford)
Albert Hammond Jr 2023 Tour Dates:
09/14 – New York, NY @ Racket
09/15 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
09/16 – Windham, NY @ Cave Mountain Festival
09/20 – San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo’s 365 Club
09/21 – Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre
