May 11, 2023 – Today, Nashville singer-songwriter Jill Andrews announced her new album Modern Age will release on August 18th through Vulture Vulture/Tone Tree Music. Her first new full-length in over three years, Modern Age is an ode to simpler times, an album that goes beyond nostalgia to veneration of what were to so many, the golden years. Andrews also shared today her new single “Connection” along with the official video, directed by Griffin Davis. Lush with indie-pop soundscapes and earworm hooks, “Connection” explores the schism between then and now, contrasting today’s tech savvy love with meeting someone the old-fashioned way in an irresistible, roll-the-windows-down throwback.
Watch The Official Video For “Connection”
A few years ago, Andrews went back home to sing at the memorial service of a childhood friend. In mourning, surrounded by relics of her past, the things and people she used to know, she was struck by how much life had changed. Perfectly preserved brick homes, sidewalks on both sides of the street, untouched jungle gyms and corner stores had her calling out for childhood, an age she realized all at once, had passed by. Fridays were a trip to Blockbuster and a couple of Fruit Roll Ups. Freedom was a bicycle and daylight.
“When I was a kid, I never imagined the world would be like this,” said Andrews. “At 3pm, when the bus dropped me off on the corner of Leanne Circle and Paty Drive, the feeling of freedom washed over me. My friends were a phone call or a door bell’s ring away. My Keds were worn from exploring the streets, backlots, and woods of my neighborhood in East Tennessee. Looking back on it now, I feel like I am an observer from the future. In the period of time that I have been alive, so much about human behavior has changed, my own included. This album for me is about looking back. It’s about all the gains and losses. It’s a juxtaposition of childhood and adulthood. It’s the simplicities and complexities that surround both. And figuring out where I belong within it all.”
Standing at the intersection of memory lane and tomorrow, Modern Age is a stunning reflection on how far we’ve all come, but one that leaves the listener wondering about the price of “progress.” Produced by Lucas Morton at 4115 Studios, it features ten tracks that range from anthemic, pop dreams with ethereal synths and rich vocals, to intimate acoustic confessions. It’s a meditation on childhood and changing times, growing up and looking back. In moments, the epitome of 90’s pop perfection with airy synths and shimmering vocals and in others, pared down and heart-wrenchingly intimate, Modern Age is dripping in reverence for a simpler time, when the world was as big as your high school, when love was waiting by the phone, when we wondered about the future instead of lived in it. With addictive melodies that evoke Susannah Hoffs and Kate Bush, Modern Age is at once a time capsule of and a love letter to the places we all began.
With thoughtful and brilliant performances by an all-star cast of musicians including Tyler Chester (Sara Bareilles, Jackson Brown, Madison Cunningham), Juan Solorzano (Becca Mancari, Mary Gauthier, Michaela Anne), Graham Bechler (Erin Rae, Allen Stone), Anthony Da Costa (Sunny War, Molly Tuttle, Yola), and special guests Ben Cramer (Old Sea Brigade) and Becca Mancari on backing vocals, Modern Age remembers an era where the rhythm of life played slower, when we rewound cassette tapes with our fingertips, and talked on the phone for hours.
Earlier this spring, Andrews teased the announcement of her forthcoming album with a pair of new singles, lead by “Dark Days,” a sprawling reflection on the complexities of simultaneously looking back and moving forward. It was followed by “High Fives” a nostalgic song inspired by childhood friends and finding immense joy in the simplest of things, co-written with her Hush Kids bandmate and frequent collaborator Peter Groenwald. It was also accompanied by an official video directed and edited by Joshua Britt and Neilson Hubbard.
Track Listing:
01) 80’s Baby
02) Connection
03) High Fives
04) Better Life
05) Kids
06) Wrong Place, Wrong Time
07) Dark Days
08) Patience
09) Sensitive
10) Boundless Love
Tour Dates:
08/18 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
08/19 – Charlotte, NC @ The Evening Muse
08/20 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
08/27 – Leicestershire, UK @ The Long Road Festival
08/31 – Nashville, TN @ Backyard Sessions (w/ Sam Johnston)
09/16 – Johnson City, TN @ The Down Home (w/ Matt Deighton)
09/29 – Derry, Northern Ireland, UK @ St. Augustine’s Church (w/ Matt Deighton)
09/30 – Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK @ Black Box
10/02 – Manchester, UK @ Band on the Wall
10/03 – Cardiff, UK @ Acapela
10/04 – London, UK @ Green Note
10/05 – Southampton, UK @ The 1865
10/06 – Bangor, UK @ Blue Sky Cafe
10/07 – Glasgow, Scotland, UK @ Classic Grand Social Lounge
10/08 – Liverpool, UK @ Liverpool Philharmonic