Seasons

Description

Each seasonal cycle informs, impacts, and inspires growth. American Authors translate those cycles of change into genre-blurring alternative anthems, bordering pop ambition and rock spirit undercut by a rhythmic hip-hop boom. Touting airtight songcraft and sonic adventurousness, the Brooklyn-based four-piece Zac Barnett [vocals], James Adam Shelley [guitar, banjo], Dave Rublin [bass], and Matt Sanchez [drums] push forward and progress yet again on their third full-length, the aptly titled Seasons. It distills a near-decade journey into a dynamic, distinct, and definitive offering for the quartet.

Rather than tread familiar territory and record in Los Angeles or New York, they retreated to a mountainside studio twenty minutes away from downtown Nashville. Surrounded by woods and overlooking nature, they quite literally experienced all four seasons of Tennessee weather from winter snow to summer sun. Simultaneously, they embraced formative nineties influences, spanning alternative stalwarts such as Weezer and Nirvana and West Coast rap a la Tupac. Beyond embracing analog synths, they proudly incorporated more guitar. Settling into this mountain hideaway, they wrote 40-plus songs in between watching the leaves turn, clouds roll in, and hawks in the sky, as Sanchez recalls. Collaborating alongside producers Cason Cooley and Trent Dabbs, the band leveled up their signature sound.

Initial tracks Deep Water and I Wanna Go Out paved the way for the records arrival. By the close of 2018, they shared yet another album anthem the stomping gospel-infused Say Amen [feat. Billy Raffoul]. Culminating on a steeple-size refrain, its rustling guitars and gritty duet between Zac and Billy proves equally heavenly and hypnotic. Meanwhile, the upbeat and energetic single Neighborhood delivers a sincere, yet bittersweet message via nostalgic lyrics. Elsewhere, Stay Around charges forward on a handclap-driven beat augmented by a groundswell of synths, echoing guitars, and unshakable falsetto on the hook. The powerful piano chords of Calm Me Down uphold a confessional and catchy admission on the chorus. In the end, Seasons shows American Authors at their purest and most powerful.