East Coast singer-songwriter Matt Andersen has announced a new album. The Hammer & the Rose will be out April 25 via Sonic Records, and the title track is available now.
Andersen recorded the album live off the floor in Wolfville, NS, with Afie Jurvanen (a.k.a. Bahamas) on acoustic guitar, Christine Bougie on lap steel, Aaron Comeau on keys and Kyle Cunjak on acoustic bass. Joshua Van Tassel produced the session and played drums.
A press release notes that the album was inspired by a moment when Van Tassel told Andersen how much he enjoyed the quieter moments in the artist's live set and suggested making an album with the same vibe. A press release notes that The Hammer & the Rose offers "the kind of tender, moving folk and soul arrangements one might associate with flowers, trading in the hard steel edges of his heavy blues riffs for delicate compositions and honey-dripping sweetness."
Get a taste of that sound with title track "The Hammer & the Rose" below.
Andersen will be supporting the album with a spring tour, although it's entirely in the US and doesn't include any Canadian stops. See the schedule here.