The Who are streaming the track, “Ball And Chain”, as the lead single from their forthcoming album, “Who.”
The song – which saw its 2019 live debut in London in July – was first released as “Guantanamo” on Pete Townshend’s 2015 compilation album, “Truancy: The Very Best of Pete Townshend” and, most recently, was introduced by the guitarist as “Big Cigars” during a September 1 show at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Due November 22, “Who” marks the UK band’s first new album in thirteen years, since the release of 2006’s “Endless Wire”; mostly recorded in London and Los Angeles during Spring and Summer 2019, the set was co-produced by Townshend and D. Sardy (who has worked with Noel Gallagher, Oasis, LCD Soundsystem, Gorillaz) with vocal production by Dave Eringa (Manic Street Preachers, Roger Daltrey, Wilko Johnson).
Townshed and Roger Daltrey are joined on the album by long-time Who touring drummer Zak Starkey and bassist Pino Palladino along with contributions from Simon Townshend, Benmont Tench, Carla Azar, Joey Waronker and Gordon Giltrap.
“I think we’ve made our best album since Quadrophenia in 1973,” says Daltrey. “Pete hasn’t lost it, he’s still a fabulous songwriter, and he’s still got that cutting edge.”
“This album is almost all new songs written last year, with just two exceptions,” adds Townshend. “There is no theme, no concept, no story, just a set of songs that I (and my brother Simon) wrote to give Roger Daltrey some inspiration, challenges and scope for his newly revived singing voice. Roger and I are both old men now, by any measure, so I’ve tried to stay away from romance, but also from nostalgia if I can. I didn’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable. Memories are OK, and some of the songs refer to the explosive state of things today.
“I made new home studio demos of all these songs in the summer of 2018 using a wide collection of instruments old and new. We started recording as The Who in March 2019, and have finished now in late August just in time to make some vinyl . . . maybe even some cassettes . . ready for release in November.”
The Who are currently playing shows on an 8-week fall run of North America that will wrap up with the third of three appearances at The Hollywood Bowl in late October.
The Who
“Who”
Release date: November 22
01. All This Music Must Fade
02. Ball and Chain
03. I Don’t Wanna Get Wise
04. Detour
05. Beads On One String
06. Hero Ground Zero
07. Street Song
08. I'll Be Back
09. Break The Newse
10. Rockin' In Rage
11. She Rocked My World
See also:
VIDEO: The Who debut new song Big Cigars in New York
VIDEO: The Who debut new song Hero Ground Zero in London
VIDEO: The Who perform 1971 classic with Jimmy Fallon and The Roots
The Who: Roger Daltrey announces Tommy Orchestral live release
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