Acclaimed vocalist, songwriter and guitarist Albert Hammond Jr of the Grammy-winning group The Strokes, today announces a new solo project – Melodies On Hiatus – slated for release in full on 23 June via Red Bull Records. Today, he also shares a new track, “100-99” featuring GoldLink, alongside a video directed by Angela Ricciardi and Silken Weinberg.
“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,” Hammond Jr says about the new track. “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.”
“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,” Ricciardi and Weinberg say about the video. “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.”
Featuring contributions from GoldLink, Steve Stevens, Matt Helders and Rainsford, the album was co-written remotely with Simon Wilcox, mixed by Tony Hoffer (Beck, Air, M83, Metric, Chromeo) and mastered by Dave Cooley (Paramore, Spoon, Tame Impala, Jimmy Eat World).
With over 150 million lifetime streams, Hammond Jr has released four solo albums—Yours to Keep (2006), ¿Cómo Te Llama? (2008), Momentary Masters (2015) and Francis Trouble (2018). His critically acclaimed work has been covered by top tier outlets including NPR, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Stereogum and many others. He's also performed on “The Late Late Show with James Corden” and at several major festivals including Lollapalooza, Governors Ball, Primavera Sound and more.
Melodies On Hiatus Tracklisting:
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
