Out now: 'Strange Hours,' the new album by Eli Young Band

Eli Young Band, 18x RIAA-certified country hitmakers, launch a new era with Strange Hours, available now. It is the band’s first independently released album via UnLevel Records and their first full album release in over three years. 

Listen HERE.

Strange Hours' songs were all co-written as a band or with collaborators. Eric Arjes and Jimmy Robbins produced 12 of the 13 tracks, while “Bad Luck” was produced by Julian Raymond and Scott Borchetta.

“We started this thing when we were like 20 years old, and it’s been such a crazy road and such a longer road than any of us could have conceptualized at the time,” says bassist Jon Jones. “I think right now feels a little full circle, in a really nice way.”

Seeking both a fresh start and a return to their roots with this project, the never-changing lineup of Mike Eli, James Young, Jon Jones and Chris Thompson sought out Panhandle House Studio in their hometown of Denton, Texas – the birthplace of the college friends-turned-bandmates’ 2005 debut album Level, which spawned fan-favorites such as “Small Town Kid” and set the stage for the numerous hits that have followed in the 20 years since.

“Now, we get to step back into our Texas shoes,” vocalist Eli agrees. “I think this new stuff finds us reaching deep into our past as a band. We’re remembering where the magic was – all those songs we wanted to record for our Level record, that felt way too edgy for Country Radio at the time.”

For the band, being independent again for the first time in years isn’t a challenge, it’s a reward – and they took the chance to embrace not just renewed creative freedom, but the fun of their self contained live-band philosophy.

“Going back to Panhandle House where we recorded Level, it feels like we got to remind ourselves why we started making the kind of music we make,” Eli says. “When this music comes out, I think fans will know it is 100% coming from us.”

“Honestly, going to Panhandle House feels like going back to your childhood home in a way,” Jones notes. “It just evokes these memories, like this slightly-younger version of ourselves comes out.”

“One thing that’s really special is we’ve come full circle and remember that energy, but we’re also older and wiser,” drummer Thompson adds. “We have years of studio, songwriting and performing experience under our belt, so we have more of a honed edge going in. That’s a really cool advantage.”

Lead single “Home In Hometown” is a true-to-experience ballad of life on the highway. 

“I was digging deep into our Texas roots,” Eli says of the modern-classic midtempo. “I wanted to write something that felt like Pat Green or Jack Ingram would cut. And when you travel like we do, a lot of times you’re thinking about coming home and being with your family – but, it’s almost like if they meet you on the road, anywhere can be home. It just feels right. I wanted to capture that."

For more information and to purchase tickets to all upcoming dates, visit eliyoungband.com.

Track List:

(songwriters in parentheses)

“Nothing On The Wild” (Mike Eli, Matt McVaney, Matt Rogers)
“Whiskey Told Ya (Feat. Corey Kent)” (Mike Eli, James Young, Jon Jones, Chris Thompson, Jimmy Robbins, Eric Arjes)
“All Good With Me@ (Eric Arjes, Jeffrey East, Mike Eli)
“Strange Hours” (Jeffrey East, Eric Arjes, Mike Eli)
“What Do Lonely People Do” (Jeffrey East, Mike Eli)
“Always Almost There” (Laura Veltz, Jon Nite, Mike Eli)
“Everybody Else” (Josh Osborne, Jimmy Robbins, Mike Eli)
“Settle For Your Sometimes” (Josh Thompson, Jimmy Robbins, Mike Eli)
“I’m Yours Amen” (Jeffrey East, Mike Eli)
“Bad Luck” (Adam Hambrick, Blake Chaffin, Mike Eli)
“Home In Hometown” (Ryan Tyndell, Jeff Hyde, Mike Eli)
“The Magician” (Eric Arjes, Jake Mitchell, Mike Eli)
“Pretty Good Day For The Bar” (Mike Eli, James Young, Jon Jones, Chris Thompson, Jimmy Robbins, Eric Arjes)

Tour Dates:

August 2 || Woodstock, IL || McHenry County Fair
August 5 || Mentor, OH || Mentor Amphitheater
August 7 || Hobart, IN || Art Theater
August 8 || Troy, OH || Miami County Fair
August 9 || Watertown, WI || Riverside Park
August 14 || Troy, NY || Joe Bruno Stadium *
August 15 || Dillon, CO || Dillon Amphitheater ^
August 16 || Colorado Springs, CO || Ford Amphitheater ^
August 17 || Aspen, CO || Belly Up
August 21 || Alva, OK || Nite Lite
August 22 || Wichita, KS || Equity Bank Park
August 23 || Fredericksburg, TX || Gillespie County Fair
August 28 || Beaumont, TX || The Venue at Belle Oaks %
August 29 || Amarillo, TX || Azteca Music Hall
August 30 || Bedford, TX || Bedford Beats & Eats
September 4 || Fort Smith, AR || TempleLive
September 5 || Hays, KS || Fox Theatre
September 6 || Lampe, MO || Black Oak Mountain #
September 11 || Foxborough, MA || Six String
September 12 || Dewey Beach, DE || Bottle & Cork
September 13 || Amagansett, NY || The Stephen Talkhouse
September 18 || Moorhead, MN || Bluestem Center For The Arts +
September 19 || Riverside, IA || Riverside Casino & Golf Resort
September 20 || Van Buren, MO || Hellbenders On The Current
September 26 || Royse City, TX || Southern Junction
September 27 || Cedar Park, TX || Haute Spot
October 4 || Monterrey, MX || Ahuestern Country Festival
October 10 || Union Hall, VA || The Coves Amphitheater
October 11 || New Haven, KY || The Amp At Log Still
October 12 || Birmingham, AL || Iron Hills
October 16 || Norwalk, CT || District Music Hall
October 17 || Leesburg, VA || Tally Ho Theatre
October 18 || Chesterfield, VA || Cattle Baron’s Ball
October 22 || El Dorado, AR || Murphy Arts District %
October 24 || Broken Bow, OK || Hochatown
October 25 || Gatesville, TX || Bare Bones BBQ %
November 1 || Christoval, TX || Cooper’s LIVE!
November 5 || Jacksonville, FL || Decca Live
November 6 || Fort Myers, FL || The Ranch Concert Hall & Saloon
November 7 || Fort Pierce, FL || Sunrise Theater
November 8 || Sanford, FL || Tuffy’s Bottle Shop / Lounge / Music Box
November 13 || Salt Lake City, UT || The Complex
November 14 || Denver, CO || Grizzly Rose
November 21 || Baton Rouge, LA || Texas Club
December 3 || Portland, ME || Aura
December 4 || Worcester, MA || Off The Rails
December 5 || Hampton, NH || Wally’s
December 6 || Bar Harbor, ME || 1932 Criterion Theatre

* With Tyler Hubbard
^ With Billy Currington
# With Dwight Yoakam
+ With Kansas
% Mike Eli Solo Acoustic Show

OMD sets deluxe reissue of hit 1985 album 'Crush' for October

Having reviewed the band's great performance at Cruel World festival last May (see elsewhere on this blog), I'm looking forward to hearing this...

To mark the 40th anniversary of U.S. breakout album Crush, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark have announced an expanded reissue, which is out October 10 via UMR/Virgin. This announcement follows the recent 40th anniversary of their acclaimed album Junk Culture.

Originally released on June 17, 1985, the band’s sixth album Crush contained the single "So In Love," which entered the Billboard Top 40, and radio hit "Secret." The album reached #13 on the UK Official Album Chart. 

Working from a batch of demos, Andy and Paul, plus multi-instrumentalist Martin Cooper and drummer Malcolm Holmes, began recording Crush in Liverpool’s Amazon Studios in the late winter of 1984. Having laid down what they could in Amazon, they then relocated to the more secluded facilities of The Manor, in the heart of Oxfordshire, where they enlisted US-born producer Stephen Hague to help pull the record together.

“We felt for the first time like we needed somebody to help us focus on the production,” McCluskey says. “We were too close to these half-written songs and needed someone who could be a little bit more objective. Stephen had a very slick production sound. Maybe unconsciously, we were also thinking, ‘If we’re going to break America, we need to be a bit more polished’.”

That approach successfully attracted a new audience and both Humphreys and McCluskey look back on it with fondness. Although Crush was created under gruelling conditions, there’s no doubting that everything paid off: “We managed to create an exceedingly good album,” McCluskey affirms. “We are very proud of every track.”

The 40th celebration of Crush will arrive on 2LP black and coloured vinyl, as well as 2CD and digital formats. Remastered from the original analogue files, the special anniversary release sees a wealth of brand new material including seven unreleased tracks from the album's multitrack sessions, mixed by Paul Humphreys. 

The new release also comes with two demos, an alternative mix, four never-before-heard songs, plus non-album b-sides and extended or 12" mixes, some of which have never been reissued or issued on CD/digitally. The package is rounded out with rare photos and comprehensive notes by journalist and author Jason Draper in conversation with Andy McCluskey.

“The 40th anniversary re-release of 'Crush' has been a wonderful opportunity for us to re-assess the album. 1985 was a period of great intensity with constant touring and time pressure in the studio, but we created a powerful collection of songs and lyrical themes,” Andy McCluskey said of the record.

“In hindsight, we made a much better album than we knew at the time. Two hit singles 'So in Love' and ‘Secret’ remain live set constants to this day. There is raw energy and anger in ‘88 seconds in Greensboro’, swaggering pomp of ‘The Native Daughters of the Golden West’, and the melancholy shroud of the title track ‘Crush’ juxtaposing relentless samples of Japanese TV adverts against the weary vocals and somnambulant instrumentation perfectly captures the jet lag induced dream state of global touring.We changed style and musical palette, but 'Crush' retains a confidence and energy that I am very proud of.”

OMD have sold 25 million singles and 15 million albums to date. 

Track listing:

CD 1

So In Love
Secret
Bloc Bloc Bloc
Women III
Crush
88 Seconds In Greensboro
The Native Daughters Of The Golden West
La Femme Accident
Hold You
The Lights Are Going Out

CD 2

Wheels of Steel*
Lana Turner v.1*
Hold You (Rough)*
Choral*
Lana Turner v.2*
Drift (Demo)*
All or Nothing (Demo)*
Concrete Hands (b-side)
Firegun (b-side)
Maria Gallante (b-side)
Drift (b-side)
Secret (Extended Mix)
So In Love (Special American Dance Remix)
So In Love (Extended)
La Femme Accident (12" Mix)
Concrete Hands (Extended)

*Previously Unreleased Track

LP1

Side I 

So In Love
Secret
Bloc Bloc Bloc
Women III
Crush

Side II

88 Seconds In Greensboro
The Native Daughters Of The Golden West
La Femme Accident
Hold You
The Lights Are Going Out

LP2

Side III

Wheels of Steel*
Lana Turner v.1*
Hold You (Rough)*
Choral*
Lana Turner v.2*
Drift (Demo)*
All or Nothing (Demo)*

Side IV

So In Love (Special American Dance Remix)
Secret (Extended Mix)
La Femme Accident (12" Mix)
Concrete Hands (Extended)

*Previously Unreleased Track