Image Credit: Yasmin Cowan
MAX IS BACK! The most-recently-talked-about, American singer/songwriter and Iowa native Max Jury today announces his brand new third studio album Avenues – out March 31st.
The news follows the release of his infectious single Is This Love? – a duet with rising British star, Delilah Montagu – produced by London Grammar’s Dan Rothman. The track was warmly received by the UK Press: “The two voices intertwine like whiskey and ice, with the pair steering their music in a warming, organic, acoustic vibe” – Clash. I declared it “a folk earworm that gets better with every listen”, and The Star described the track as a “fab duet”.
Today also sees the release of a second track, the Nick Drake-esque – Feel Free. “This is a song about the creative process and all the peaks and valleys that come along with it. It’s dedicated to the people and places that have helped and inspired me along the way. “
Max has been travelling without moving, exploring without leaving, and getting ahead without getting out. And now, with his glorious third album, he’s taking us all with him, on a country-soul odyssey into the canyons of his mind. The American singer-songwriter is taking us down Avenues.
In the first year of the pandemic, Max bunkered down in North Carolina. He worked out of a studio run by an old friend next to his old friend’s parents’ house. True to form, Max started travelling once more. Destination… once again, London. Connecting with another new collaborator, Dan Rothman of London Grammar – they met after sharing mutual appreciation on Instagram – he realised he had even more songs ready to be fleshed out. Even more, journeys to share. Working too, with Jimmy Hogarth, the Grammy-winning, London and Dorset-based writer/producer (Amy Winehouse, Suzanne Vega, Paolo Nutini), Max sought to colour the vision he and Harden had sketched in North Carolina.
‘Peace of Mind’, is a tripped-out blast of folk-rock freakery: written with his partner in North Carolina, scuzzed up in the studio in London with Rothman. ‘Is This Love?’ and ‘Happiness To Myself’ is further products of the UK sessions. Equally, other songs on the album were left as they were when he recorded them in North Carolina, notably ‘Is There A Light?’ – a symphonic wonder that starts off quite hymnal, and ends up like The Zombies.
“Avenues is the album I’ve always wanted to make.” Max explains. “It’s the closest I’ve come to being my true self as an artist, and it re-inspired me to keep pursuing this whole music thing. It’s about self-reflection and discovery, it’s about rebirth, and it’s about not giving up on a dream. But most importantly it’s about being present for the journey.”
Max Jury is a footloose songwriter, a troubadour in the classic sense. Someone who’s always followed the music. Ahead of his self-titled 2016 debut Max Jury, Max set off for London, which marked the start of his unique musical journey. The debut album went on to receive great critical acclaim, with the first single Numb connecting with new fans alike across the UK, France and America, garnering more than 40 million global streams to date.
For his second album, 2019’s Modern World, Max decamped to Los Angeles to work with award-winning producer, Robin Hannibal (Kendrick Lamar, Little Dragon). However, the Covid 19 pandemic descended soon after the album’s release, bringing the campaign to a halt before it had a chance to get started.
Max returns to London early in 2023 for a residency at The Slaughtered Lamb with a hat trick of special headline shows and a few surprises.
Tickets are on sale HERE.
Settle down and lean into the yearning, restless, reassuring and wholly wonderful sounds of the first tastes of his third album, from a musician who’s still roaming far by digging deep. It just might be the best trip you take this year.
Avenues tracklisting:
Real World
Is This Love? (ft. Delilah Montagu)
Peace Of Mind
Avenues
Happiness To Myself
Feel Free
Love Too Fast
Is There A Light?
Not Over You
All Along The Way
Follow Max Jury:
