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Alabama Shakes’ sophomore album, Sound & Color, debuts at No. 1 on The Billboard 200, selling 96,000 units in its first week of release in the U.S. It also tops numerous other album charts – including the Independent, Alternative and Top Rock albums charts. Released by ATO Records in North America and Rough Trade in the U.K./Europe, it is also No. 1 in Canada and in the Top 10 in the U.K., Australia, Switzerland and Netherlands. Sound & Color is available now at all music retailers, including iTunes and Amazon, and via the band’s website and the ATO Records webstore. Co-produced by the band and Blake Mills, it is the follow-up to Alabama Shakes’ 2012 Gold-certified debut album, Boys & Girls, which earned the group GRAMMY® nominations in three categories, including Best New Artist.
The official video for the album’s title track premieres today on VEVO. Directed by James Frost (Radiohead, Norah Jones, Coldplay) and based on a concept by Brittany Howard, the “Sound & Color” clip can be seen HERE
Pitchforkgave the album an 8.1 ranking, hailing it as “stadium soul with one eye peeking toward another galaxy.” USA Today named Sound & Color“Album of the Week” while Entertainment Weekly put it on “The Must List,” awarding it an A- and proclaiming Brittany Howard a “national treasure.” Rolling Stone observed, “This is a weirder, woozier, fiercer and sexier record than their debut in nearly every way” and The New York Times Magazine praised the band’s “soul-stirring, shape-shifting new sound.”
“The group grew in every way, took bold leaps and made a record that seems destined to be ubiquitous all summer long,” said NPR’s “All Things Considered.” In a four-star review, the New York Daily News observed, “The Shakes aren’t afraid to show the dirt in their Southern roots…it’s the stun-gun effect of Howard’s vocals that puts the Shakes in a class of their own. She’s today’s most volatile singer, the one most prone to erupt when you least expect it.” American Songwriter also awarded Sound & Color four stars and noted, “[it’s]more about finding the place where groove and mood meet – or collide – than simply rocking out.” Fans have been equally enthusiastic – including Justin Timberlake, who tweeted, “Upon my SEVENTH(I can’t stop playing it.) listen in a row, this @Alabama_ShakesSOUND AND COLOR is PERFECT. #classic”
In the lead-up to the album’s release, Alabama Shakes previewed Sound & Color with a headline tour that kicked off with a sold-out, two-night stand at New York City’s Beacon Theatre, performances on “Saturday Night Live,” “Late Show with David Letterman,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and “Live From The Artists Den” and their first appearance at Coachella. The band will perform on “Later…with Jools Holland” on May 5. View Alabama Shakes’ “First Listen Live” performance of Sound & Color, which aired as a live webcast on KCRW, HERE.
Alabama Shakes– comprising lead singer/guitarist Brittany Howard, guitarist Heath Fogg, bassist Zac Cockrell, drummer Steve Johnson, and touringkeyboard players Ben Tanner and Paul Horton – will launch the next leg of their North American tour on May 28. The band will also perform at such festivals as Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Glastonbury, Montreux Jazz Festival, Squamish, T In The Park, Mountain Jam and Field Trip.
Alabama Shakes – Upcoming Tour Dates
With special guests Father John Misty (May 28 – June 3), Strand of Oaks (June 9) and Courtney Barnett (June 10).
Very special guests Drive-By Truckers will open on August 16 and September 17-19.
5/3 – Berlin, Germany @ Astra Kulturhaus
5/13 – Birmingham, UK @ O2 Academy Birmingham
5/15 – Brighton, UK @ The Great Escape Festival SOLD OUT
5/16 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo
5/28 – St. Louis, MO @ The Fox Theatre w/very special guest Father John Misty
5/29 – Kansas City, MO @ The Starlight Theatre w/very special guest Father John Misty
5/30 – Minneapolis, MN @ Hall’s Island w/very special guest Father John MistySOLD OUT
6/2 – Indianapolis, IN @ The Farm Bureau Insurance Lawn at White River State Park w/very special guest Father John Misty
6/3 – Detroit, MI @ Masonic Temple Theatre w/very special guest Father John Misty
6/5 – Seaside Heights, NJ @ Gentlemen of the Road Stopover
6/6 – Toronto, ON @ Field Trip Music & Arts Festival
6/7 – Hunter Mountain, NY @ Mountain Jam Festival
6/9 – Charlottesville, VA @ nTelos Wireless Pavilion w/special guest Strand of Oaks
6/10 – Cary, NC @ Koka Booth Amphitheatre at Regency Park w/special guest Courtney Barnett
6/12 – Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival
6/24-28 – Pilton, UK @ Glastonbury
6/27 – Beuningen, Netherlands @ Down The Rabbit Hole
6/28 – Werchter, Belgium @ Rock Werchter
7/1 – Gdynia, Poland @ Open’er Festival
7/4 – Dublin, Ireland @ Marlay Park
7/5 – Belfort, France @ Les Eurockeennes
7/8 – Lucca, Italy @ Summer Festival Lucca
7/9 – Montreux, Switzerland @ Montreux Jazz Festival
7/10 – Rotterdam, Netherlands @ North Sea Jazz Festival
7/12 – Auchterarder, UK @ T In The Park
7/31 – Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
8/1 – Council Bluffs, IA @ Harrah’s Council Bluffs Casino & Hotel
*8/4 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Red Butte Garden
8/9 – Squamish, BC @ Squamish Valley Music Festival
8/16 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre w/very special guests Drive-By Truckers
9/17 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Mann Center for the Performing Arts w/very special guests Drive-By Truckers.
9/18 – Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion w/very special guests Drive-By Truckers
9/19 – Forest Hills, Queens, NY @ Forest Hills Stadium w/very special guests Drive-By Truckers
11/18 – London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton
* Tickets go on sale on May 4 at 9AM to the General Public
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