Baroness, who recently announced the Sept. 15 release of Stone, have debuted a second track from the eagerly-awaited collection, sharing “Beneath The Rose” and its accompanying video. Watch it now!
“It feels great to be releasing music again,” John Baizley shares. “Especially a song like ‘Beneath The Rose,’ which we began writing during the Gold & Grey sessions almost six years ago. During those sessions, the song never quite took off but once we began writing STONE, one of the first things I did was pull that main guitar riff out of retirement to see if we could breathe new life into the bones of this song. Paired with ‘Last Word,’ ‘Beneath the Rose’ became a microcosmic expression of STONE, a kind of mission statement that hints at the wide musical territory we cover throughout the rest of the album. It’s also part one of a trilogy of songs that also includes ‘Choir’ and ‘The Dirge.’”
Continuing the DIY ethos that infuses the forthcoming album, the video for “Beneath The Rose” was self-directed by the band, with editing handled by John Baizley and Nick Jost. Similarly, “Last Word,” the first single released from STONE, features a Nick Jost-created clip.
“Much the same as we decided to create and produce STONE ourselves, we’ve adopted a similar DIY attitude regarding our videos,” adds Baizley. “This is the second installment in a video series that we’re creating: shooting, directing and editing ourselves. It’s been an exciting and creative process utilizing elements of photography, stop-motion, animation and traditional video. We’re curious to see how far we can go with this STONE video project series, relying heavily on found objects, local environments and our admittedly limited lighting, video and photo equipment. Like all Baroness projects, it feels great to further expand our creative vision and capabilities.”
Early reaction to STONE has praised the band’s ongoing expansion and exploration. Brooklyn Vegan said “Baroness are at their most alive and direct,” Guitar World dubbed the new music as “soaring,” Stereogum said it “rocks on a primal and instinctive level,” Revolver said “Last Word” “finds the group in scintillating form,” and Consequence proclaimed the track as a “creative leap.”
STONE pre-orders and pre-saves are available now (https://baroness.lnk.to/STONE). The album features original cover art by Baizley and is available on a variety of formats, including an indie exclusive LP and ten limited-edition custom vinyl variants themed after each song on the album and designed by Baizley himself, as well as CD, a limited-edition deluxe CD featuring a bonus disc of live tracks recorded on the “Your Baroness” tour, and a limited blue cassette.
STONE album cover; original painting by John Baizley
STONE track listing:
- Embers
- Last Word
- Beneath the Rose
- Choir
- The Dirge
- Anodyne
- Shine
- Magnolia
- Under the Wheel
- Bloom
Baroness also recently announced the “Sweet Oblivion Tour,” a seven-week trek that sees the band traversing North America this Fall. Tickets are on-sale now via yourbaroness.com, with Baroness bringing along some of their favorite bands including Jesus Piece, Portrayal of Guilt, Primitive Man, KEN Mode, Wayfarer, Chat Pile, Vile Creature, Soul Glo, Sheer Mag, Escuela Grind, Midwife, Hoaxed, Cloud Rat, Imperial Triumphant, Uniform and Agriculture, with more support acts to be announced.
October 13 – Baltimore, MD – Baltimore Sound Stage
-With special guests Jesus Piece and Escuela Grind
October 14 – Richmond, VA – Canal Club
-With special guests Jesus Piece and Escuela Grind
October 15 – Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel
-With special guests Jesus Piece and Escuela Grind
October 17 – Tampa, FL – The Ritz Ybor
-With special guests Jesus Piece and Escuela Grind
October 18 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
-With special guests Jesus Piece and Escuela Grind
October 20 – Dallas, TX – The Echo Lounge & Music Hall
-With special guests Portrayal of Guilt and Escuela Grind
October 21 – Houston, TX – House of Blues
-With special guests Portrayal of Guilt and Escuela Grind
October 22 – Austin, TX – Empire Control Room & Garage
-With special guests Portrayal of Guilt and Escuela Grind
October 24 – Albuquerque, NM – Sunshine Theater
-With special guests Primitive Man and Midwife
October 25 – Mesa, AZ – Nile Theater
-With special guests Primitive Man and Midwife
October 27 – Santa Ana, CA – The Observatory
-With special guests Primitive Man, Midwife and Agriculture
October 28 – Los Angeles, CA – The Bellwether
-With special guests Primitive Man, Midwife and Agriculture
October 29 – Berkeley, CA – UC Theater Taube Family Music Hall
-With special guests Primitive Man, Midwife and Agriculture
October 31 – Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre
-With special guests KEN Mode and Hoaxed
November 3 – Seattle, WA – The Crocodile
-With special guest KEN Mode
November 4 – Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theatre
-With special guest KEN Mode
November 6 – Edmonton, AB – Union Hall
-With special guest KEN Mode
November 7 – Calgary, AB – The Palace Theater
-With special guest KEN Mode
November 9 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot
-With special guest Wayfarer
November 11 – Denver, CO – Summit
-With special guest Wayfarer
November 12 – Omaha, NE – The Waiting Room Lounge
-With special guest Wayfarer
November 14 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
-With special guest Chat Pile
November 15 – Chicago, IL – The Vic Theatre
-With special guest Chat Pile
November 17 – Columbus, OH – The King of Club
-With special guests Vile Creature
November 18 – Detroit, MI – St. Andrews Hall
-With special guests Vile Creature and Cloud Rat
November 19 – Toronto, ON – The Danforth Music Hall
-With special guests Vile Creature
November 20 – Montreal, QC – Théâtre Beanfield
-With special guests Vile Creature
November 22 – Albany, NY – Empire Live
-With special guests Soul Glo
November 24 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Theater & Ballroom
-With special guests Soul Glo and Cloud Rat
November 25 – Pittsburgh, PA – Roxian Theatre
-With special guests Soul Glo
November 26 – Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
-With special guests Soul Glo
November 28 – Boston, MA – Royale
-With special guests Sheer Mag and Imperial Triumphant
November 29 – New York, NY – Webster Hall
-With special guests Sheer Mag and Imperial Triumphant
December 1 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
-With special guests Sheer Mag and Uniform
About Baroness
Baroness, founded in 2003, is John Baizley (vocals/guitar), Gina Gleason (guitar), Nick Jost (bass) and Sebastian Thomson (drums). The Philadelphia-meets-Brooklyn foursome have released five full-length albums to date: Gold & Grey (2019), Purple (2015), Yellow & Green (2012), Blue Record (2009), and the Red Album (2007). The band have won widespread praise throughout their career, continually finding their albums on year-end best of lists, and receiving their first GRAMMY® nomination in 2017 for the song “Shock Me.” On their most recent album, Gold & Grey, NPR said the collection ‘feels like a callback to the heyday of the rock album as art object” before confidently declaring the album as “the sound of a band becoming a universe unto itself.” The Savannah-born Baroness continue to reach new heights, with each release providing a spellbinding new chapter in the storied history of one of modern hard rock’s most critically-acclaimed and beloved bands.
Photo credit: Ebru Yildiz