Southern California-based Americana-folk band Moonsville Collective released their new album: "A Hundred Highways" last Friday, April 12, through Rock Ridge Music and via the distribution of Warner/ADA.
Marking their first release in over six years and following a lineup change, the band exudes a renewed sense of connection with its roots to old-time music circles, as executed by their improved musicality and songwriting capabilities that are only enhanced by years of performing.
Indeed, as the Americana Highways magazine put it in light of their new album: "Like a herd of galloping horses, with every instrument going all out in turn, Moonsville Collective levels the message in a steady, poised manner."
The new record's "message" revolves around relationships, from intimate friendships lost and found to trials of love and marriage, fatherhood, family expectations, and even vice.
(Photo : Moonsville Collective)
About Moonsville Collective's 'A Hundred Highways'
"We had to recalibrate," said Corey Adams, the band's co-founder, songwriter, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist, "we went back to writing songs on the acoustic guitar and banjo, and not visualizing such big arrangements," akin to their earlier EPs back in 2018.
"That's kind of how we started: banjo music and mandolins and fiddles and really classic Americana, country, jug band, blues songs," Adams continued. "We re-found ourselves by just sitting in a circle and playing music again in a way that felt really organic and natural to us."
Complementing Adams' renewed approach as a songwriter is a refreshed band lineup comprising vocalist, banjo and fiddle player, and songwriter Phillip Glenn; mandolin player and songwriter Matthew McQueen; vocalist, and dobro and guitar player "Dobro Dan" Richardson; and double bassist Seth Richardson, Dan's son.
At the arrival of "A Hundred Highways," Adams promised the fans a new opportunity to "get to know" them in the record despite "metaphorically partying in your backyard for 10 years."
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What 'A Hundred Highways' Has to Offer
Their fourth full-length album, and the first since their last release in 2015, was recorded live at the Jazz Cats Studio in Long Beach, California, and was produced jointly by the band members.
Adams explained the choice to model their recordings to how they perform live by saying: "We didn't want to hide behind anything," adding, "We're at the phase of our lives where we wanted this one to be really authentic and true, to reflect who we really are, what we really do."
This is reflected in the first single, "Helen Highway," a retrospect on youth, lived experiences, and the arduous journey the band has bested in their expansive career. "A Hundred Songs," the second single, is conversely a genuine expression of keeping "true love" burning.
"It's not lovey-dovey; it's a love song written underneath a cloak of, 'This is really hard right now' - which I think is more intimate and more honest," Adams explained.
All in all, the record is 11-song-long and projects a different refraction of the band's comfortability in each track.
"A Hundred Highways" is now available for streaming on all major platforms, which you can browse by clicking here. You can also sample the tracks right below.
