SMKC took to the stage live last night on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in support of the Living The Dream Tour.
LIVING THE DREAM–due out September 21 via SLASH’s Snakepit Records (a partnership w/Roadrunner Records)–is the new full-length offering from the group which, in addition to SLASH andsinger MYLES KENNEDY, also includes bassist TODD KERNS, drummer BRENT FITZ and, making his recorded debut after several years of live work with The Conspirators, rhythm guitarist FRANK SIDORIS. SLASH and his band re-teamed with producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette (Alter Bridge, Iggy Pop, Incubus) for their third album resulting in the band’s strongest collective statement to date followingWorld on Fire and 2012’s Apocalyptic Love. From the barnstorming, high-octane riffery of opener”Call of the Wild” to the wah-drenched funk rock of “Read Between the Lines,” the haunting majestyof “Lost Inside the Girl” to the swaggering deep-in-the-pocket Seventies grooves of “Serve You Right,” to the stately, quasi-classical melodic themes of “The Great Pretender,” LIVING THE DREAM packs a compendium of sounds and styles into 12 tightly arranged and sharply executed tracks, all of it shot through with SLASH’s trademark electrifying and dynamic riffing and high-wire, lyrical solos.
“It’s a natural progression from World on Fire, for sure,” SLASH says of the new album. “I think it has a little more diversity–some of the ideas are not really what I would consider to be predictable.” At the same time, he adds, “The record is also a bit more structured, with songs that are shorter and more to the point than last time.” KENNEDY concurs, “I don’t know that there are as many of those sort of ‘epic sonic journeys’ that we took on the last record,” he says. “Although there are songs that take you on a trip, like’Lost Inside the Girl.’ But overall a lot of these songs–things like ‘My Antidote,’ ‘Read Between the Lines,’ ‘Slow Grind’–they’re pretty precise statements, and they definitely fall in line with the type of sound we’re known for. There’s a certain type of sonic calling card that we’ve developed over the years, and you can hear it front and center on this record.” “It’s just a snapshot of where we’re at,” SLASHcontinues, summing up LIVING THE DREAM. “Which is what we’re going for with each new album–to be present in what we’re doing and come up with something that is representative of and reflects this moment in time.”
On Thursday, September 13, SLASH FT. MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS will kick off their North American headlining tour at The Whisky in Los Angeles and will visit 20 major citiesincluding New York, Denver, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, DC (Silver Spring, MD), Chicago (New Buffalo, MI), Dallas (Thackerville, OK), Austin, Houston, and more before ending October 16back in Los Angeles. In early 2019, the group will launch a European Tour in February and March before returning to the U.S. All tickets for the fall and winter SMKC tour are available at:
www.slashonline.com
