Following on from the release of his much-loved 2020 LP 'Francis Trouble', The Strokes' guitarist and songwriter Albert Hammond Jr. has now announced his plans for a new solo album, arriving in the coming months.
The new full-length 'Melodies On Hiatus' is being previewed by the new GoldLink collaboration '100-99', which comes accompanied by a stunning Angela Ricciardi and Silken Weinberg-directed video, and is set to be released on the 23rd June via Red Bull Records.
Speaking about the new offering, he said, “I grew up listening to 90s hip-hop, and I would always gravitate towards the melodic hooks in the songs I heard on the radio, specifically anything Dr. Dre was producing or rapping on. Years later, I noticed myself pulling from the style of those melodic lines in my guitar work, even though it wasn’t obvious to anyone else as I was so directly associated with being in a rock band. ‘100-99’ was something I’ve wanted to do for some time—work with a rapper over a beat and guitar part I wrote—and it’s really exciting that I was able to do it with GoldLink.”
While Ricciardi and Weinberg added about the new video, “When we first met with Albert, it was clear we were all on the same page: we wanted to have fun and we wanted to experiment with simple concepts that tell a deeper story. The album is 19 tracks, it’s sprawling but interconnected in a special kind of way, and we wanted to maintain that visually as well. The five videos we made for Melodies on Hiatus take place in a series of rooms all within one larger space, different scenes that string together one very long night. Throughout the entire process, Albert was so open and kind, he trusted us, and it cultivated a really pure, almost psychedelic environment.”
Check out the new video for '100-99' ft. GoldLink in the player and see the album's full tracklisting below.
'Melodies On Hiatus' Tracklist:
1. 100-99 feat. GoldLink
2. Downtown Fred
3. Old Man
4. Darlin’
5. Thoughtful Distress feat. Matt Helders & Steve Stevens
6. Libertude
7. Memo of Hate
8. Home Again
9. I Got You
10. Caught by Night
11. Dead Air
12. One Chance
13. Remember feat. Rainsford
14. 818
15. Fast Kitten
16. I’d Never Leave
17. Never Stop
18. False Alarm
19. Alright Tomorrow feat. Rainsford
