After 19 years without releasing a solo album, Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains has announced the album Brighten , which will be released on October 29th.
To complement this, the musician also released his first single, “Atone,” accompanied by a black and white music video where he appears walking through the desert. Regarding the track's dark tone and cinematic feel, Cantrell said: “I’m a fan of Ennio Morricone Sergio Leone films , [so] it has a bit of that outlaw vibe, with a cool, kind of psychotic, country feel. [This song] has been forming in my head for over twenty years, haunting me.”
The album features an extensive list of guest musicians who have worked with names like Paul McCartney and Guns N' Roses , creating an "old school 70s" atmosphere, as Cantrell defines it. The project contains nine tracks, the last of which is a cover of Elton John which received the musician's personal approval.
“Out of respect for Elton, I wouldn’t include [the track] unless he said it was okay,” says Jerry Cantrell. “He played piano on ‘Black Gives Way to Blue’ [by Alice in Chains], which I wrote for Layne [ Staley ], so I contacted Elton, he listened to the song and told me, ‘You should definitely use it.’ I got the man’s own approval. I can’t think of a better way to close the album.”
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