I’m guessing new single and album announcement. Hallelujah Anyway is definitely something, I bet it’s the album title.
I read that the album is called Shape & Destroy, which fits with the burning S&D at the end of that video teaser. Spoiler tagging it just in case people don't wanna know. I could be wrong. It's secondhand info from someone who said he mentioned that on a recent livestream.
There’s a track list/album cover floating around on Twitter. And I’ve seen both tomorrow and 8/28 as the release date. I’m hoping it’s tomorrow.
As much as I'd selfishly love for it to be tomorrow, I don't think that would be smart from a marketing perspective, I don't think he's big enough yet to do a surprise drop. Maybe I'm wrong though. (Also, 8/28 is two days before my birthday, so that would be a fun little present to myself.)
For a second there was a vinyl bundle in his web store that included the new album. But it was gone once I clicked the back button. I wish I had screenshot it, but the delivery date was 8/28. Apple red vinyl limited to 350
From his website: "With his sophomore album Shape & Destroy, Nashville-based artist Ruston Kelly now documents his experience in maintaining sobriety, and finally facing the demons that led him to drug abuse in the first place. But while Kelly recounts that journey with an unvarnished honesty, his grace and conviction as an artist ultimately turn Shape & Destroy into a work of unlikely transcendence. With its unsparing reflection on what Kelly refers to as “the cycle of frustration and temptation after getting clean,” Shape & Destroy took form during a period of painful transformation. “It wasn’t surprising to me that getting sober was a challenge, but there were moments when it was challenging in a way I’d never experienced before,” Kelly says. “There’s so much repair your brain has to do—spiritually, emotionally, physically—and at one point I really felt like I was losing my mind.” As a means of self-preservation and catharsis, Kelly eventually turned to the ritual of free writing, a practice that led him to the album’s title. “This phrase just came to me one day: ‘Shape the life you want by destroying what obstructs the soul,’” he recalls. “I realized that was the ticket to healing myself and healing my mind: figuring out what kind of person I want to become, and then getting rid of everything that keeps me from being that person.""
Great song. I listened to Dying Star again yesterday and it’s still one of my favorites of the past few years.
I'm surprised to see "Morphine" and "700 Angels" not on the track list; I think he played "Morphine" both times I saw him last year.