RIVAL SONS Announce New Album 'Lightbringer'

Two-time-Grammy-nominated band RIVAL SONS will release its new album, "Lightbringer", on October 20. It notably marks the group's second full-length offering to be unveiled in 2023, following June's critically acclaimed companion album "Darkfighter". Today, "Lightbringer" is available for pre-order. The pre-order includes two vinyl variants — fruit punch and lemonade — as well as a CD version.

About "Lightbringer", guitarist Scott Holiday said: "When you do two albums back to back like this, there are a lot of things to think about. The first record has to pack enough of a punch and tell enough of a story for the second half to have an even bigger impact. We balanced them out with energy and meaning, but the follow-up always needed to deliver a bigger blow. I think 'Lightbringer' provides this."

Vocalist Jay Buchanan added: "'Darkfighter' is a new RIVAL SONS, and 'Lightbringer' is the clear definition of what we are now. We broke ground on 'Darkfighter', but 'Lightbringer' is a step beyond the personal innovation and exploration. It goes a little further. We really took everything into our own hands and pushed to see how far we could go. It was a self-exploration to see who we were and who we'll be now. We had more friction and compromise than ever, because we isolated the bare essence of where we needed to go — and then we went there."

The band set the stage for "Lightbringer" with a rollicking, roaring, and righteous new single titled "Sweet Life" — available on all streaming platforms now. From the jump, a frenetic drumbeat gives way to a rip-roaring riff. Meanwhile, Jay's bluesy wail bounces between a cathartic hook and boogie-down groove as he bemoans, "I've got to shake, shake, shake the bad rhythm for good," shimmying in lockstep with the guitar.

Regarding "Sweet Life", Jay promised, "It's the most old-school RIVAL SONS song on either of these two records. It has all of the early elements of what RIVAL SONS is and was. It was born out of my love mid-sixties rock like THE ANIMALS, THE KINKS, and the bands I was raised on. It's a bit of a break from all of the heavy subject matter too; it's a barnburner."

RIVAL SONS crafted "Darkfighter" and "Lightbringer" during the same sessions over the course of 2021. Once again, they recorded with creative confidant and longtime producer Dave Cobb behind the board. The band initially dropped "Darkfighter" to unanimous tastemaker praise earlier this summer. Classic Rock attested, "'Darkfighter' might just be RIVAL SONS' masterpiece," and Glide Magazine enthused, "'Darkfighter' is a lean hard rock album that condenses what RIVAL SONS does well into a brief attack." At the same time, they have piled up millions of streams across the likes of "Nobody Wants To Die", "Bird In The Hand", "Rapture" and more.

Right now, RIVAL SONS are on the road with the SMASHING PUMPKINS and will be touring through the end of 2023 with select U.S. headline shows and festival appearances.

In 2021, RIVAL SONS celebrated the tenth anniversary of their 2011 album, "Pressure And Time", by performing the landmark long player live in its entirety on the "Pressure And Time" tour for the first time. They also lit up Southern California with a two-night livestream event, "Pair Of Aces", live from the historic Catalina Casino on Santa Catalina Island. They performed their debut LP, "Before The Fire" (2009),in its entirety on the first night and their self-titled EP, "Rival Sons" (2010),on the second.

"Lightbringer" track listing:

01. Darkfighter
02. Mercy
03. Redemption
04. Sweet Life
05. Before The Fire
06. Mosaic

Photo credit: Patrik Skoglöw