Lost In The Dream is the third album by Philadelphia band The War on Drugs, but in many ways, it feels like the first. Around the release of the 2011 breakthrough Slave Ambient, Adam Granduciel spent the bulk of two years on the road, touring through progressively larger rock clubs, festival stages and late-night television slots. As these dozen songs shifted and grew beyond what they’d been in the studio, The War on Drugs became a bona fide rock ’n’ roll band. That essence drives Lost In The Dream, a 10-song set produced by Granduciel and longtime engineer Jeff Zeigler. In the past, Granduciel built the core of songs largely by himself. But these tunes were played and recorded by the group that had solidified so much on the road: Dave Hartley, (his favorite bassist in the world), who had played a bit on The War on Drugs’ 2008 debut Wagonwheel Blues, and pianist Robbie Bennett, a multi-instrumentalist who contributed to Slave Ambient. This unit spent eight months bouncing between a half-dozen different studios that stretched from the mountains of North Carolina to the boroughs of New York City.
Philadelphia’s The War on Drugs reside at the blurred edges of American music: overexposing studio limitations, piling tape upon tape to maximum density, and then — with each song — they pull off the scaffolding to reveal what sticks, keeping only what’s absolutely necessary and dig into what sounds like the best kind of fucked up. As on their 2008 debut, Wagonwheel Blues, central member Adam Granduciel takes small moments occurring over multiple tapes and multiple song versions, and puts every last drop of trust in his own keen instinct of momentum.
Lost In The Dream represents the trials of the trip and the triumphs of its destination. “I wanted there to be a singular voice, but I wanted it to be a project of great friends. Everyone in the band cares about it so much,” he says. “That is the crux of it—growing up, dealing with life, having close friends, helping each other get by. That is what the record’s all about.”
The Album was one of the best albums of last year in many foreign music magazines around the world.
They will have their premier in the Czech Republic, Lucerna Music Bar Prague, on the 17th of August.
Tickets are available from the 17th of April for 540 CZK (+fee) at GoOut.cz, Tickepro.cz, Ticketportal, Eventim and musicbar.cz. At the cash desk of the LMB without fee, at the door: 640 CZK.
