The Wallflowers, the band longtime fronted by Jakob Dylan, have announced the release of ‘Exit Wounds’ on July 9th via New West Records. The 10-song set is their first album in nearly a decade – it was produced by Butch Walker, mixed by Chris Dugan and features Shelby Lynne on four songs. While it has been a long time since we’ve heard from the group with whom Dylan first made his mark, he always knew they’d return: “The Wallflowers is much of my life’s work,” he says. The band announced their return with a live performance of the first single ‘Roots and Wings’ last week on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! in the States – you can watch that below.
True to its title, ‘Exit Wounds’ is described as “an ode to people — individual and collective — that have, to put it mildly, been through some stuff.” Jakob Dylan says: “I think everybody — no matter what side of the aisle you’re on — wherever we’re going to next, we’re all taking a lot of exit wounds with us. Nobody is the same as they were four years ago. That, to me, is what Exit Wounds signifies. And it’s not meant to be negative at all. It just means that wherever you’re headed, even if it’s to a better place, you leave people and things behind, and you think about those people and those things and you carry them with you. Those are your exit wounds. And right now, we’re swimming in them.” Dylan continues, “I’m the same writer I’ve always been — I was just also writing during a time when the world felt like it was falling apart. That changes the way you address even the simplest things, because you have panic in your mind all the time. You have anxiety. And you also have hope. And it’s all in there.”
The album finds Dylan surrounded with a fresh cast of musicians, which he is quick to point out is not all that unusual. “The Wallflowers have always been a vehicle for me to make great rock ‘n’ roll records,” he says. “And sometimes the lineup that makes the record transfers over into touring, and sometimes it doesn’t. But my intention is always to make the Wallflowers record I want to make, using the musicians I have beside me.” Dylan assembled a backing band of musical associates — “people that I’ve wanted to play with or that I have played with through the years…This was not the type of thing where it’s a rotating cast and you call a different drummer for each song, or you pull out the Rolodex and ring the local session guys,” Dylan says. “The record was made as a band – the five Wallflowers. It’s just exciting to have guys playing in a room together. That’s how you get the one plus one equals three factor. That’s the magic.”
Dylan has repeatedly stepped outside of his band, first with a pair of more acoustic and rootsy solo albums, ‘Seeing Things’ (2008) and ‘Women + Country’ (2010). Most recently, he executive produced and starred in the 2018 documentary film Echo in the Canyon. The film found Dylan collaborating with a host of artists classic and contemporary, from Neil Young and Brian Wilson to Beck and Fiona Apple, and it was also the last on-screen appearance by Tom Petty.
‘Exit Wounds’ will be available across digital platforms, compact disc, and standard black vinyl. A limited Opaque Purple Vinyl edition will be available at Independent Retailers worldwide while a limited to 500 Purple Splatter vinyl edition will be available via New West Records. A limited to 500 Purple and Pink Splatter vinyl edition will be available via Nordic Retailers while a limited to 500 Purple and Silver Marbled vinyl edition will be available via the Magnolia Record Club. A Super Deluxe Vinyl edition limited to 750 copies will be autographed by Jakob Dylan. It will also feature a linen-wrapped jacket, purple foil-stamped & numbered, and housed & protected in a clear outer sleeve. Basically if you’re a collector, get saving.
‘Exit Wounds’ Track Listing:
1. Maybe Your Heart’s Not In It No More
2. Roots And Wings
3. I Hear The Ocean (When I Wanna Hear Trains)
4. The Dive Bar In My Heart
5. Darlin’ Hold On
6. Move The River
7. I’ll Let You Down (But Will Not Give You Up)
8. Wrong End Of The Spear
9. Who’s That Man Walking ‘Round My Garden
10. The Daylight Between Us
