The Black Crowes don’t need Pink Floyd’s perfection.
In a recent interview on 93.3 WMMR radio, Chris and Rich Robinson from the band talked about their new album, ‘Happiness Bastards.’ They recorded it in only two and a half weeks at Jay Joyce’s studio in East Nashville after touring for two years. When asked how they did it so quickly, Rich explained:
“Plug in and play… We had most of the forms [of the songs], but it’s a band. We go in, we play.”
Chris added after him:
“There was a lot of songs that we [said], ‘Try it twice as fast.’ ‘Okay.’ ‘Try it without this part.’ … We’re not trying to make [Pink Floyd’s] ‘Dark Side of the Moon’. We don’t need to be in there for six months. We’re making a real visceral kind of music. We’re making a real — hopefully — a soulful and emotional connection, spontaneous and alive.”
The Background Of The Album
‘Happiness Bastards’ has 10 tracks and arrived on March 15. Rich previously shared with American Songwriter how they decided to work on new songs:
“I have a studio in my house, so I started recording songs and music and sending it to Chris [in L.A.], and he would write stuff and send it back. We had this bedrock of a bunch of songs that we could start with. The songs always dictate what the record’s going to be, typically. It’s almost like a jigsaw puzzle. You throw everything on the table. Certain things fit, certain things don’t, and then that’s just kind of how it happens.”
‘Happiness Bastards’ is the band’s first album since they reunited in 2019. It is also their first new material since 2009’s ‘Before the Frost…Until the Freeze.’ The Black Crowes are currently on their European tour to promote their latest record. They will return to the United States to perform with Aerosmith on their Peace Out tour as special guests.