Exclaim!'s Summer 2023 cover star, Allison Russell, has announced her much-anticipated sophomore solo album The Returner, arriving September 8 on Fantasy Records. She's previewing the record with the soulful, sun-warmed title track, which finds Russell weaving her roots-music bonafides with a newfound swagger.
"I think the new record is very much more embodied joy," Russell told Exclaim! of The Returner. "Recording it felt like we were having a party in the studio. When we were playing songs back, I captured a lot of video of everybody just feeling it in the control room and grooving out to the songs. We were in motion together in this space, fleshing out these songs, and I feel like you can hear that."
Diving into glittery disco and richly embodied, organic funk, The Returner sees Russell expanding her sonic palette into a new world of colour. "The way I approached writing this time was different," she told Exclaim! "I was going into it very intentionally wanting to be taken out of my own folk ghetto."
Featuring contributions from Russell's "Rainbow Coalition" — which includes guitarist Wendy Melvoin and keyboardist Lisa Coleman, who were members of Prince's band the Revolution, and SistaStrings (a.k.a. the sibling duo of violinist Chauntee Ross and cellist Monique Ross) — The Returner also sees Russell link up with the likes of Brandi Carlile, Brandy Clark and Hozier.
In a press release about The Returner, Russell said:
This album is a much deeper articulation of rhythm, groove, and syncopation. Groove as it heralds the self back into the body, groove as it celebrates sensual and sexual agency and flowering, groove as an urgent call to action and political activism.
In just a word, it's funkier. But as is the history of anything funky, it's never just a party. It is a multiverse of energies that merges the celebration and the battle cry. For while an embrace of the present tense is a celebration, it is equally an unquestioning leap into battle – cultural, political, environmental.
Check out the tracklist for The Returner and listen to the title track below; below that, see the full album credits. Read Exclaim!'s cover story interview with Russell here, and find print copies on newsstands across Canada. Check out more of the issue here.
The Returner:
1. Springtime
2. The Returner
3. All Without Within
4. Demons
5. Eve Was Black
6. Stay Right Here
7. Shadowlands
8. Rag Child
9. Snake Life
10. Requiem
All songs written by Allison Russell, JT Nero, and Drew Lindsay
Co-Producers: Dim Star and AR
Recorded by Brandon Bell at Henson Recording Studios (Los Angeles, CA)
Assistant Engineer: Kelsey Porter
Mixed by Brandon Bell at The Cabin Studio (Nashville, TN)
Mastered by Kim Rosen at Knack Mastering (Ringwood, NJ)
Allison Russell (vocals, banjo, clarinet), Elenna Canlas (keyboards/synth, backing vocals), Elizabeth Pupo-Walker (percussion), Chauntee Ross (violin, backing vocals) & Monique Ross (cello, backing vocals) aka SistaStrings, Ganessa James (bass, backing vocals), Joy Clark (guitar), Kerenza Peacock (violin), Larissa Maestro (cello, backing vocals), Lisa Coleman (piano), Mandy Fer (guitar, backing vocals), Meg Coleman (drums), Meg McCormick (guitar), Wendy Melvoin (guitar, bass), and Wiktoria Bialic (drums). Special guests Brandi Carlile, Brandy Clark, and Hozier provide backing vocals on "Requiem."
"I think the new record is very much more embodied joy," Russell told Exclaim! of The Returner. "Recording it felt like we were having a party in the studio. When we were playing songs back, I captured a lot of video of everybody just feeling it in the control room and grooving out to the songs. We were in motion together in this space, fleshing out these songs, and I feel like you can hear that."
Diving into glittery disco and richly embodied, organic funk, The Returner sees Russell expanding her sonic palette into a new world of colour. "The way I approached writing this time was different," she told Exclaim! "I was going into it very intentionally wanting to be taken out of my own folk ghetto."
Featuring contributions from Russell's "Rainbow Coalition" — which includes guitarist Wendy Melvoin and keyboardist Lisa Coleman, who were members of Prince's band the Revolution, and SistaStrings (a.k.a. the sibling duo of violinist Chauntee Ross and cellist Monique Ross) — The Returner also sees Russell link up with the likes of Brandi Carlile, Brandy Clark and Hozier.
In a press release about The Returner, Russell said:
This album is a much deeper articulation of rhythm, groove, and syncopation. Groove as it heralds the self back into the body, groove as it celebrates sensual and sexual agency and flowering, groove as an urgent call to action and political activism.
In just a word, it's funkier. But as is the history of anything funky, it's never just a party. It is a multiverse of energies that merges the celebration and the battle cry. For while an embrace of the present tense is a celebration, it is equally an unquestioning leap into battle – cultural, political, environmental.
Check out the tracklist for The Returner and listen to the title track below; below that, see the full album credits. Read Exclaim!'s cover story interview with Russell here, and find print copies on newsstands across Canada. Check out more of the issue here.
The Returner:
1. Springtime
2. The Returner
3. All Without Within
4. Demons
5. Eve Was Black
6. Stay Right Here
7. Shadowlands
8. Rag Child
9. Snake Life
10. Requiem
All songs written by Allison Russell, JT Nero, and Drew Lindsay
Co-Producers: Dim Star and AR
Recorded by Brandon Bell at Henson Recording Studios (Los Angeles, CA)
Assistant Engineer: Kelsey Porter
Mixed by Brandon Bell at The Cabin Studio (Nashville, TN)
Mastered by Kim Rosen at Knack Mastering (Ringwood, NJ)
Allison Russell (vocals, banjo, clarinet), Elenna Canlas (keyboards/synth, backing vocals), Elizabeth Pupo-Walker (percussion), Chauntee Ross (violin, backing vocals) & Monique Ross (cello, backing vocals) aka SistaStrings, Ganessa James (bass, backing vocals), Joy Clark (guitar), Kerenza Peacock (violin), Larissa Maestro (cello, backing vocals), Lisa Coleman (piano), Mandy Fer (guitar, backing vocals), Meg Coleman (drums), Meg McCormick (guitar), Wendy Melvoin (guitar, bass), and Wiktoria Bialic (drums). Special guests Brandi Carlile, Brandy Clark, and Hozier provide backing vocals on "Requiem."
