BLACK JOE LEWIS
New album Electric Slave released November 18th via Vagrant Records
Watch the video for ‘Come To My Party’
Joe Lewis hails from Austin, TX – the collision centre where Southern soul meets mid-western blues and vagabond punk. Unable to keep away from the infectious music scene Austin is infamous for, Joe Lewis soaked it all in and soon found himself purchasing his first guitar while working in a pawnshop. The rest is history.
Once compared to “The Godfather of Soul”, we hear Black Joe Lewis letting his punk- flag fly on the group’s third studio album, Electric Slave, released in the UK via Vagrant Records on November 18th. Black Joe Lewis perfected his gritty shouting and raw guitar riffs, honing his signature sound on the band’s upcoming album.
Electric Slave kicks off with in-your-face opener ‘Skulldiggin,’ which showcases Joe howling in true Joe-Lewis-fashion all the while highlighting just how ballsy Lewis can really get. Of the album title, Lewis says, “Electric Slave is what people are today with their faces buried in their iPhones and the only way to hold a conversation is through text. The next step is to plug it in to your damned head.”
Much like not wanting to be a slave to our cell phones, Black Joe Lewis refuses to be confined to genre-defining boundaries or cater to only one of his many musical influences on his third LP. Lewis still has plenty of women chasing, hard-knocks and all-around good time tales to tell as we hear on tracks like ‘Young Girls,’ ‘Make Dat Money,’ and ‘Come To My Party.’ And as always, Lewis somehow finds a way to make tracks full of horns and blues riffs to rival the likes of rocker Iggy Pop.
Electric Slave was produced in large part by Grammy award winner Stuart Sikes (White Stripes, Cat Power, Modest Mouse) and recorded at Church House Studios in Austin. Three of the new tracks (‘Skulldiggin,’ ‘Dar Es Salaam,’ ‘My Blood Ain’t Runnin’ Right’) were recorded and produced by John Congleton (Explosions in the Sky, St. Vincent, Okkervil River) at Elmwood Studios in Dallas.
Electric Slave will be released in the UK on November 18th on Vagrant Records.
Get ready to get gritty.
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