ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell has shared a performance video of the title track of his recently released solo album “Brighten”. The clip was directed by Sebastien Paquet and Kevin Garcia and was recorded in November 2021 at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles as part of the “Brighten” record-release event. It is now available to stream and download everywhere you listen to music. Many of the musicians featured on the record performed with Jerry, including Tyler Bates (“300”, “John Wick”), Greg Puciato (THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN), Gil Sharone (THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN), George Adrian, Vincent Jones and Michael Rozon.
“Brighten” has received praise from critics, including Kerrang!, which called it a “vivid, contemporary self-portrait of one of the most distinctive voices in hard rock. A long-overdue show of individual brilliance.” Classic Rock proclaimed it “his best yet. The work of a songwriter who is happy within his life, it spans a broad arc of styles.” The Sun commented: “A rich, organic album… ‘Brighten’ is brilliant.”
“Brighten” is Jerry‘s first project without ALICE IN CHAINS in 19 years. Co-produced with film composer Tyler Bates and Paul Fig (longtime engineer), the LP got its beginnings just before the pandemic hit. They welcomed a dynamic cast of supporting players, including Duff McKagan (GUNS N’ ROSES) on select bass tracks, Puciato contributing to backing vocals and drummers Sharone and Abe Laboriel, Jr. (Paul McCartney). Joe Barresi (TOOL, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE) handled the mixing of “Brighten”.
Jerry has also announced a U.S. tour that will bring him to cities such as New York, LA, Chicago, Boston, Nashville and Vegas, among many other cities.
A couple of years ago, Cantrell played a pair of sold-out solo shows in Los Angeles joined by an eclectic group of musicians and friends, several of whom appear on “Brighten”.
“It was fun to play tunes I hadn’t performed in years from ‘Boggy Depot’ and ‘Degradation Trip’,” Jerry said. “Tyler Bates not only introduced me to a lot of cool players, he also helped me put the band together for the shows, and performed with me.”
“Brighten” spawned from those gigs.
“It was like an old-school ’70s record where a multitude of musicians played,” smiled Cantrell. “So it’s not a set band. I got to make music with a bunch of people I never had before, along with friends like Duff, Tyler and Gil who I’ve worked with previously.”
Jerry‘s new effort marks his first full-length release since “Degradation Trip”, the epic solo album he made in 2002 with future METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo and FAITH NO MORE drummer Mike Bordin.
Jerry‘s career outside of ALICE IN CHAINS has consisted of two previous solo albums and contributions to major film soundtracks. Cantrell‘s first solo album, “Boggy Depot”, was released in 1998, followed by his second album, the aforementioned “Degradation Trip”. In addition to his solo artist work, Jerry has released music on soundtracks for several films, including “Spider-Man”, “The Cable Guy”, “John Wick 2”, “Last Action Hero” and “The Punisher”.
ALICE IN CHAINS regrouped in 2006 with William DuVall joining the band, and released its third LP with DuVall in the lineup, “Rainier Fog”, in August 2018.
[flexi-common-toolbar] [flexi-form class=”flexi_form_style” title=”Submit to Flexi” name=”my_form” ajax=”true”][flexi-form-tag type=”post_title” class=”fl-input” title=”Title” value=”” required=”true”][flexi-form-tag type=”category” title=”Select category”][flexi-form-tag type=”tag” title=”Insert tag”][flexi-form-tag type=”article” class=”fl-textarea” title=”Description” ][flexi-form-tag type=”file” title=”Select file” required=”true”][flexi-form-tag type=”submit” name=”submit” value=”Submit Now”] [/flexi-form]
Tagged: Alternative Music, music blog