On the back of their country-honking self-titled debut from 2013, Nashville’s The Wild Feathers toured with everyone from Bob Dylan to Gary Clark Jr., with stops at pretty much every late-night show on the air. When all that touring finally came to an end, the band retreated to write in a cabin in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the famed studio town where the likes of The Rolling Stones and Willie Nelson once came to get a piece of the sound they heard on records by Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin.
But it’s here where the story begins to diverge from the typical rock and roll legend. Rather than double down on their heartland riffing, the band ventured further out—to Barcelona, to be exact, where they fleshed their tunes out a little more. What they brought back with them isn’t necessarily Iberian—they’re not going to be shutting down Es Paradis to the tune of Lonely is a Lifetime, the band’s March 11 LP, any time soon—but its sound is decidedly broader than that of the debut. That much is apparent from the bright-eyed jangle of album opener “Overnight,” and it’s driven home by new single “Don’t Ask Me to Change,” which we’re pleased to be premiering today.
The song takes a bit of that old twang and filters through an interstellar riff, scattering it in the air. Between the milky guitar texture and melancholy verse—not to mention the punched-up chorus—“Don’t Ask Me to Change” sounds like mid-90s radio rock at its most earnest and direct: think of them as a slightly more sober Gin Blossoms, blasting off from the backwoods and into space.
The Wild Feathers will hit the road sometime this spring in support of Lonely is a Lifetime. You can check out the album’s artwork and track list below.
Lonely is a Lifetime track list
“Overnight”
“Sleepers”
“Goodbye Song”
“Don’t Ask Me to Change”
“Happy Again”
“Leave Your Light On”
“Help Me Out”
“Lonely is a Lifetime”
“On My Way”
“Into the Sun”
“Hallelujah”
Lonely is a Lifetime is out March 11 on Warner Brothers.
