The Wood Brothers (Photo by Alysse Gafkjen)
The Wood Brothers are on tour this Winter in support of their latest studio album Kingdom In My Mind out now on Honey Jar/Thirty Tigers. An extensive cross-country trek stops at 9:30 Club on Wednesday, Jan. 26!
Recorded over a series of freewheeling, improvised sessions, Kingdom Of My Mind is the band’s most spontaneous work yet. The 11-track collection is a reckoning with circumstance, mortality, and human nature. The material finds strength in accepting what lies beyond our control as it hones in on the bittersweet beauty that underlies doubt and pain and sadness with vivid character studies and unflinching self-examination. While the lyrics dig deep, the arrangements are buoyant and transportive, drawing from a broad sonic and stylistic spectrum.
“We all have these little kingdoms inside of our minds,” said Chris Wood. “And without really planning it out, the songs on this album all ended up exploring that idea in some way or another. They look at the ways we deal with our dreams and our regrets and our fears and our loves.”
Watch a music video for “Little Bit Broken” by The Wood Brothers on YouTube:
On past albums, the band — brothers Oliver and Chris Wood and Jano Rix — would write a batch of songs and then deliberately set out to record them, but when it came to making Kingdom In My Mind, they began the process without even realizing it. At the time, the trio thought they were simply breaking in their new Nashville recording studio/rehearsal space, tracking a series of extended instrumental jam sessions as a way to test drive the facility.
“We weren’t performing songs,” said Oliver Wood. “We were just improvising and letting the music dictate everything. Somebody would start playing, and then we’d all jump into the groove with them and see where it went. Normally when recording, you’re thinking about your parts and your performances, but with these sessions, we were just reacting to each other and having fun in the moment.”
The Wood Brothers
W/ Steve Poltz
9:30 Club
Wednesday, Jan. 26
Doors @ 7pm
$35
All ages