MT. JOY ANNOUNCE NEW STUDIO ALBUM WITH RELEASE OF CATHARTIC TITLE TRACK “ORANGE BLOOD”

The world of indie and alternative rock is about to get a new event to cheer about — specifically, the upcoming release of Mt. Joy’s third album, Orange Blood, which will be available June 17. Even better, the multi-talented, activism-centered band has already released the title track, “Orange Blood,” which offers a hint of what is sure to be a bold, uplifting album.

Musically, Mt. Joy are somewhere between Fleetwood Mac and George Harrison crossed with The Lumineers and Weyes Blood. Mt. Joy’s songs are full of soaring harmonies and beautiful acoustic guitars, yet there’s a gut-wrenching style to their sound which few bands are able to consistently replicate — evidenced brilliantly on “Orange Blood.” The song’s arrangement is pure magic, a mix of incredibly tight bass lines and harmonies and very loose rhythms from both drums and slide guitar.

With lyrics like, “You know I’d like to free you from your pain now / Oh, I’d like to free you from your pain now / I said meet me in the middle with your guard down / Meet me in the middle with your guard down,” it’s not hard to hear the track as desperate and pleading. Yet “Orange Blood” is ultimately a hopeful song — just delivered in a melancholic yet simultaneously uplifting way. It wastes not a single second, subtly changing style with each verse and growing in emotions and volume until it pulls back at the last moment like a gasp of breath. The music video, a mix of the live-action band singing alongside simplistic yet surreal animation, only serves to heighten the emotions conjured up by the track. And as lead singer Matt Quinn has said about the song’s colorful origins:

“I was definitely drawn to the color orange … When we were in the desert, everything revolved around the sun. I started playing with the idea that the light we see is this sort of orange blood that runs through all of us and gives life to everything it touches … We wanted to build something that found beauty in the fact the world has always been crazy. We were trying to find a way to be present enough to appreciate our surroundings even if they’re in decay.”

If “Orange Blood” is a taste of what’s to come on Mt. Joy’s next album, listeners are in for one hell of a cathartic, mature rollercoaster ride. Orange Blood will release on June 17 through Island Records. A nationwide tour to support the album will start the day before, on June 16, and run through the beginning of November, with Madison Cunningham, Wilderado and The Brook & The Bluff as special guests. Tickets and tour information are available at http://www.mtjoyband.com/tour. You can listen to the album’s lead single and watch the music video below now!