The Band of Heathens have released their new album Duende, the band’s fifth studio album (and eighth overall), which also marks their tenth anniversary as a group. The album first premiered with an exclusive stream on Rolling Stone Country. “An album built around connection and collaboration, it spotlights a pack of players whose influences – Southern boogie-woogie, stoned soul, heartland country-rock and all points between – are as wide-ranging as their tour dates,” writes Rolling Stone.
Duende has garnered early acclaim, and has been previewed via exclusive track premieres on The Boot, Popmatters and Relix. The record is currently the #1 most-added album on the Americana Music Association radio chart, with the first single “All I’m Asking” also in the top 5 most-added.
Duende is an apt name for a record whose themes explore the collective search for connection and communion in a technology-fueled world increasingly splintered, distracted and lonely. As band co-founder Ed Jurdi, who first learned of the term, explains, “It’s the essence of the artist,” or as partner Gordy Quist says, “It’s a word we don’t have an equivalent for in English, artistically, that’s where we tried to set the bar, to do what this band does best.”
Duende – [duen-de] (noun) 1. a quality of inspiration and passion 2. A heightened sense of emotion, expression and authenticity 3. a spirit.
The group has also released an EPK video to provide an introduction to Duende, as well as a snapshot of where the band currently finds themselves creatively. Watch it HERE.