LIONIZE
Maryland’s funkiest reggae-rock crew return with their most stadium-friendly songs yet.
For more than a decade, Lionize have travelled the world taking their unique brand of funked up, reggae-infused rock to the masses. This experience has shaped them into a tight, vibrant band live and on record. It has also attached them fairly firmly to the ‘reggae-rock’ label, although that looks set to change with their sixth studio album.
“To step into new territory sonically we had to steep ourselves in The Beatles and Thin Lizzy and Parliament, and not really subscribe to the ‘reggaerock’ thing,” says singer/guitarist Nate Bergman. “The record has a really nice flow to it – it’s a vibe thing and a real journey.”
Co-produced by Clutch drummer Jean Paul Gaster (together with J.Robbins and the band themselves), Nuclear Soul has hints of their fellow Marylanders, alongside whiffs of Deep Purple and heavy soul. It promises to be the biggest-sounding thing they’ve done, musically and lyrically. Ongoing political tensions in the US have fuelled this to some extent. This new focus has added more topical energy to the sci-fi-infused lyrics they’ve become known for. Not that they’ve totally abandoned their otherworldly elements, but rather streamlined them into fiery, present-day-flavoured numbers like Darkest Timeline and Ain’t It A Shame.
“We’ll always be in love with sci-fi,” Bergman says, “but there’s a lot of intersection on the album where it’s not really fiction any more – it’s exactly where we are at.”
With appearances at Ramblin’ Man Fair and London’s Black Heart drawing closer (July 29 and August 5 respectively), Lionize are more than ready to get their songs out there.
“This is the first album where we are excited about playing every track on the album,” Bergman enthuses. “I am as happy and proud of the album as I could possibly be. I love it and can’t wait for everyone to hear it. It’s the best thing we’ve done.”
ETA: September 8