Photo by Yasmin Than
The Wallflowers will release Exit Wounds on July 9th via New West Records. The 10-song set is their first album in nearly a decade and was produced by Butch Walker (Taylor Swift, Weezer). Exit Wounds was mixed by Chris Dugan (Green Day) and features the acclaimed singer-songwriter Shelby Lynne on four songs. While it has been nearly a decade since we’ve heard from the group with whom Jakob Dylan first made his mark, he always knew they’d return. “The Wallflowers is much of my life’s work,” he says simply. The much-anticipated record finds the band’s signature sound — lean, potent and eminently entrancing — intact.
The Wallflowers announced their return with a live performance of the first single “Roots and Wings” last night on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! See the performance below.
For the past 30 years, The Wallflowers have stood as one of rock’s most dynamic and purposeful bands — a unit dedicated to and continually honing a sound that meshes timeless songwriting and storytelling with a hard-hitting and decidedly modern musical attack. That signature style has been present through the decades, baked into the grooves of smash hits like 1996’s Bringing Down the Horse as well as more recent and exploratory fare like 2012’s Glad All Over.
True to its title, Exit Wounds is 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.”
Exit Wounds 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.” For Dylan, Exit Wounds is the next chapter in a career devoted to chasing — and capturing — that 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 acclaimed 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. Echo In the Canyon was also the last on-screen appearance by Tom Petty and was the ninth biggest theatrical documentary released that year. The Wallflowers’ overwhelmingly successful single “One Headlight” was prominently featured in the Judd Apatow film The King of Staten Island last year and continues to be a massive hit, topping Billboard’s “Greatest of All Time Adult Alternative Songs” chart.
The Wallflowers have also announced a 53-Date Arena Tour scheduled to launch on July 16th at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT and concluding at The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA on October 7th. Please see all dates below.
The Wallflowers’ 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.
The Wallflowers’ Exit Wounds is available for pre-order NOW via NEW WEST RECORDS.
The Wallflowers On Tour:
July 16th – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Arena
July 17th – Gilford, NH – Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion
July 18th – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center
July 20th – Bethlehem, PA – The Wind Creek Event Center
July 22nd – Camden, NJ – BB&T Pavilion
July 23rd – Syracuse, NY – St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheatre at Lakeview
July 25th – Wantagh, NY – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
July 27th – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
July 28th – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live
July 30th – Virginia Beach, VA – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheatre
July 31st – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
August 1st – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion
August 3rd – Atlanta, GA – Cellairis Amphitheatre at Lakewood
August 4th – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
August 6th – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
August 7th – West Palm Beach, FL – iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
August 8th – Jacksonville, FL – Dally’s Place Amphitheatre
August 10th – Pelham, AL – Oak Mountain Amphitheatre
August 12th – Dallas, TX – Dos Equis Pavilion
August 13th – The Woodlands, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
August 15th – Rogers, AR – Walmart AMP
August 16th – Oklahoma City, OK – Zoo Amphitheatre
August 18th – Moline, IL – TaxSlayer Center
August 20th – Memphis, TN – Live at the Garden
August 21st – Maryland Heights, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
August 22nd – Kansas City, MO – Starlight Theatre
August 24th – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
August 25th – Toledo, OH – Toledo Zoo Amphitheatre
August 27th – Tinley Park, IL – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
August 28th – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
August 29th – Clarkston, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre
August 31st – Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center
September 1st – Burgettstown, PA – S&T Bank Music Park
September 3rd – Saratoga Springs, NY – Saratoga Performing Arts Center
September 4th – Darien Center, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheatre
September 5th – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage
September 8th – Sioux Falls, SD – Denny Sanford Premier Center
September 9th – Omaha, NE – CHI Health Center
September 10th – Welch, MN – Treasure Island Resort & Casino
September 12th – Denver, CO – Pepsi Center
September 14th – Nampa, ID – Ford Idaho Center Amphitheatre
September 17th – Las Vegas, NV – The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
September 18th – Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheatre
September 21st – Vancouver, BC – Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena
September 22nd – Auburn, WA – White River Amphitheatre
September 23rd – Ridgefield, WA – Sunlight Supply Amphitheatre
September 25th – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre
September 26th – Fresno, CA – Save Mart Center
September 28th – Bakersfield, CA – Rabobank Arena
September 30th – San Diego, CA – Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre
October 3rd – Irvine, CA – FivePoint Amphitheatre
October 5th – Phoenix, AZ – Ak-Chin Pavilion
October 7th – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl
