Jerry Cantrell, guitarist and vocalist of Alice in Chains, will release his new solo album on October 29, 2021. It will have the title “Brighten”.
The official music video for the LP’s first single, “Atone”, can be streamed below. Cantrell co-directed the black-and-white clip with photographer musician Jim Louvau, singer/guitarist Greg Puciato, visual artist Jesse Draxler and photographer Tony Aguilera.
“As a fan of Ennio Morricone scores and Sergio Leone movies, it’s got a bit of that outlaw vibe, with a cool psycho hillbilly stomp,” Cantrell told Rolling Stone about “Atone”. “It’s been kicking around in my head for like 20-plus years, haunting me. Sometimes it takes a while for a good idea to find its best form. Such was the case with ‘Atone’.”
“Brighten” was produced by Cantrell with Tyler Bates and engineer Paul Fig. Special guests on the album include Puciato, Gil Sharone, Duff McKagan, Abe Laboriel, Jr., Michael Rozon, Vincent Jones, Jordan Lewis, Lola Bates and Matias Ambrogi-Torres. The LP includes a cover of Elton John’s “Goodbye”, which was approved by the music legend himself.
“‘Madman Across The Water’ is one of my favorite records of all time,” Cantrell said. “Out of respect to Elton, I wouldn’t include it unless he said it was okay. He’d played piano on ‘Black Gives Way To Blue’, which I wrote for Layne [Staley], so I reached out to Elton, he listened to it, and told me ‘You should absolutely use it.’ I got the signoff by the man himself. I couldn’t think of a better way to close the record!”.
Tracklist
1. “Atone”
2. “Brighten”
3. “Prism of Doubt”
4. “Black Hearts and Evil Done”
5. “Siren Song”
6. “Had To Know”
7. “Nobody Breaks You”
8. “Dismembered”
9. “Goodbye” (Elton John cover)
