Photo by Dave Vann

Award-winning pianist, singer and songwriter Bruce Hornsby has announced his new studio album ‘Flcited will release on May 27 via his own Zappo Productions/Thirty Tigers. In celebration of the record announcement, the Grateful Dead alum and ’80s icon shared the LP’s lead single “Sidelines.”

‘Flcited was recorded in the summer of 2021 and serves as a followup to Hornsby’s acclaimed albums Absolute Zero and Non-Secure Connection. According to a press relase, the LP completes the trilogy of song collections based on film “cues” Hornsby composed for writer and director Spike Lee. The approach enabled Hornsby to explore new stylistic techniques and work with a wide array of artists. “The album title ‘Flicted relates to this strange time in which we live, when the world is basically, well, ‘flicted,” Hornsby shared in the release.

“Sidelines” includes a duet between Hornsby and Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig and features Black Mills–who co-wrote the song–on guitar. The debut was released alongside an accompanying video, directed by animator Kitty Ninon Anais Faingold.

Faingold spoke on the video: “I wanted the video to read like visual poetry by using allegorical imagery and a stream of consciousness method of working. I also wanted to give it a hand-crafted feel to emphasize the sensitivity of the song and vulnerability of the lyrics, so I worked with watercolors on thin computer paper which I then took photos of. This gave the animation a lot of texture and a level of DIY analogue imperfection which I think works well with the idea of vulnerability and human emotion.”

Horsby went into greater detail about the single writing, “‘Sidelines’ is a song about hysteria in various forms, starting with the Salem witch trials of the 1600’s then to the present-day pandemic-era panic. It features angular melodic content vocally and a pointillistic middle instrumental section.”

The album, which was co-produced by Hornsby and Tony Berg, features 12-tracks and also features a duet with Danielle Haim, contributions from Rob Moose and the first ever cover song to appear on a Hornsby studio release; Chuck Berry’s “Too Much Monkey Business.”

Additionally Hornsby and his band the Noisemakers will embark on an large scale tour starting March 26. The tour includes performances at Los Angeles’ Troubadour, Chicago’s Athenaeum Theatre, Cincinnati’s Taft Theatre and Brooklyn, N.Y.’s Brooklyn Bowl, as well as, festivals including Elkhart Jazz Fest, Rocky Mountain Folk Festival, Strings Music Festival and more.

Pre-order ‘Flcited here.

Read Relix‘s feature on Hornsby here.

Listen to Sidelines below:

‘Flicted Tracklist
1. Sidelines (with Ezra Koenig and featuring Blake Mills)
2. Tag
3. The Hound
4. Too Much Monkey Business
5. Maybe Now
6. Bucket List
7. Days Ahead (featuring Danielle Haim)
8. Lidar
9. Is This It
10. Had Enough
11. Simple Prayer II (featuring Z. Berg, Ethan Gruska and Rob Moose)
12. Point Omega

Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers LIVE Tour
March 26—Savannah, GA—Savannah Music Festival (Lucas Theatre)
March 27—Augusta, GA—Miller Theater*
March 29—Knoxville, TN—Bijou Theatre*
March 30—Chattanooga, TN—Walker Theatre*
April 1—Birmingham, AL—The Lyric Theatre*
April 2—New Orleans, LA—Hogs For The Cause
June 17— Gethsemane, KY—The Amp at Dant Crossing
June 20—Interlochen, MI—Kresge Auditorium†
June 21—Chicago, IL—Athenaeum Theatre†
June 23—Indianapolis, IN—Rock the Ruins at The Vogue Outdoors‡
June 24—Cincinnati, OH—Taft Theatre†
June 26—Hammondsport, NY—The Pavilion at Point of the Bluff Vineyards†
June 28—Brooklyn, NY—Brooklyn Bowl†
June 30—Vienna, VA—Wolf Trap Filene Center§
August 5—Ojai, CA—Libbey Bowl
August 6—West Hollywood, CA—Troubadour
August 9—Flagstaff, AZ—Pepsi Amphitheater
August 11—Beaver Creek, CO—Vilar Performing Arts Center†
August 12 – 14—Lyons, CO—Rocky Mountain Folk Festival
August 17—Livingston, MT—Pine Creek Lodge†
August 21—San Francisco, CA—Palace of Fine Arts†
August 23—Seattle, WA—Neptune Theatre†
August 25—Portland, OR—Revolution Hall†
October 14—Omaha, NE—Holland Performing Arts Center (An Evening with Bruce Hornsby and the Omaha Symphony)
*w/ Gibb Droll
†w/ CARM
‡w/ Bonny Light Horseman
§w/ Shawn Colvin & CARM