ELECTROPHONIC CHRONIC, THE FIRST ALBUM FROM THE ARCS SINCE 2015, ARRIVES JANUARY 27 VIA EASY EYE SOUND
The Arcs have unveiled "Sunshine" today, the final advance look at their first album in eight years, Electrophonic Chronic, before its January 27 release on Easy Eye Sound. Kicking off with an instantly-captivating piano melody from Leon Michels - who also provides horns on the track - lead vocalist Dan Auerbach balances vignettes of feeling down on your luck with the chorus' unwavering plea for better days ahead: "won’t you help me see the light." On a track that was originally co-written with their late bandmate Richard Swift (who can also be heard on background vocals and percussion) before his passing in 2018, it's a poignant statement on picking up the pieces and finding meaning in times that feel most difficult.
Listen to "Sunshine" and pre-order Electrophonic Chronic here: https://click.ees.link/chronic
Auerbach and Michels, who co-produced Electrophonic Chronic, have also announced a series of DJ sets that will bring them to small rooms across Paris (which will include a DJ set from The Black Keys featuring both Auerbach and Patrick Carney), New York and Los Angeles in the weeks to come. A celebration of the band's mutual obsession with crate-digging and spinning rare finds for each other on the road, the sets double as a reminder of these shared passions with Swift, which built the roots of the new record before his passing. Among their many inspirations are vintage soul (featured on the album is a gender-flipped cover of the would-be South Florida star Helene Smith's "A Woman Will Do Wrong"), old school garage rock (including "Electrophonic Tonic," the once-lost gem from Fred "Sonic" Smith and Sonic's Rendevous Band), and the space age pop made famous by producer Joe Meek in the pre-Beatles 1960s.
Featuring the full original line-up of The Arcs - Auerbach, Michels, Swift, Nick Movshon and Homer Steinweiss - Electrophonic Chronic has been met with early praise from NPR Music, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Billboard and more. The album was recorded over the course of years, revisited by Auerbach and Michels during the pandemic after a period where, as Michels puts it, "I think all of us couldn’t really listen to the music, couldn’t really face it and try to finish it."
"This new record is all about honoring Swift," Auerbach adds. "It’s a way for us to say goodbye to him."
The Arcs DJ Sets with Dan Auerbach and Leon Michels
January 14 - Gigi's Paradisco - Paris, France (DJ sets by The Black Keys & El Michels Affair)
January 28 - Sultan Room - Brooklyn, New York
February 3 - Gold Diggers - Los Angeles, California (with DJ Breezy)
Electrophonic Chronic
Keep On Dreamin’
Eyez
Heaven Is A Place
Califone Interlude
River
Sunshine
A Man Will Do Wrong
Behind The Eyes
Backstage Mess
Sporting Girls Interlude
Love Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
Only One For Me