New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Uplifting alternative rock group HUDOST partnered with For Folk's Sake to premiere the music video for "Rise Together" last week (11/21). It's the anthemic lead single from the husband-wife-fronted group's forthcoming full-length album OF WATER + MERCY (due March 29, 2019). Click here to watch the
Craig Hill-filmed video that features Jars of Clay and shot during the song's recording at Nashville's Gray Matters Studio.
HUDOST's Moksha Sommer and Jemal Wade penned the song-recently added to Spotify's official "Renegade Folk" playlist-with Jars of Clay lead vocalist Dan Haseltine. Additionally, all the Jars of Clay band members were involved, with Vance Powell (Jack White/White Stripes,
Pearl Jam, Brandi Carlile, etc...) running point on the mix. Seen in the video are Jars of Clay members with Dan Haseltine on backing vocals and keys, Charlie Lowell on keys, Stephen
Mason on guitar, while HUDOST alumni Bryan Brock and Tim Denbo round out the band on drums on bass, respectively. The song was engineered by Jars of Clay guitarist Matthew Odmark.
The song debuted last week (11/14) with STEREO EMBERS whose Alex Green raved: "Co-written with Dan Haseltine of Jars of Clay, the song is a moving blast of crunchy alternative rock that's smoldering with urgency and heart. An aching yet rousing take on loss, healing and soulful regeneration, 'Rise Together' boasts a rippling chorus and a powerful message of humanity and hope. Sommer's vocals are imbued with a soaring blend of strength and vulnerability, while Wade plays guitar with equal parts fire and finesse. An affecting number filled with emotive highs and a stirring take on what truly bonds us all together, HuDost's new single is surely heralding an album that will be equally rich and powerful." (November 14, 2018)
"When I wrote the beginning lyric to 'Rise Together,' I was exploring the ways we all share a common human value and a common thread of life, loss and rebirth, says Dan Haseltine of Jars of Clay. "In the face of an ever-divided life, and in light of so many messages pitting us against our neighbors, it seemed like a worthwhile exercise to strip all the market trappings away and get back to the core of what connects us."
"We met Dan Haseltine of Jars of Clay not through music but through our shared work in political advocacy acting on behalf of people living in extreme poverty," says Moksha Sommer. "Through music and advocacy we have witnessed incredible and real change and know the astonishing power of collective voices on behalf of those who do not have the ability, and sometimes even the rights, to be heard. Songwriting with Dan was a wonderful process of the three of us contributing all that we could and being attached to nothing. I think the result is quite remarkable and reflects the very thing the song is about; rising together through shared vision and action."
Throughout the eight tracks on OF WATER + MERCY-the eighth full-length studio album from HUDOST-there's a rich, eclectic blending of pop and rock with a sound that crosses all borders and barriers, taking the listener on a journey. From Montreal and Kentucky, HuDost weaves a seamless tapestry of sound from the core musicians of Moksha Sommer and Jemal Wade Hines. Having toured the U.S., Canada, and
Europe consistently since April 2006, HUDOST's highlight performances include Bonnaroo, Resident band at FloydFest, BhaktiFest, World Café Live, Blissfest,
Music City Roots, The Montreal Folk Festival and much more. HUDOST have grown and expanded, traveled rocky and glorious terrain and marveled at all they can learn and explore. Moksha and Jemal Wade in this time have grown as artists, as seekers, as a couple and as a family.
OF WATER + MERCY follows the releases of 2015's full-length The World Is…-a collaborative record with Steve Kilbey of the Australian band The Church with special guest Jon Anderson of YES-and a World Chant album, Sufi Kirtan. The prolific group have also worked with Grammy Award-winner Malcolm Burn (Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris,
Peter Gabriel) and Grammy Award-winner Oz Fritz (Tom Waits, Bill Laswell, Primus).
TRACK LISTING FOR OF WATER AND MERCY:
"Burning Church"
"Rise Together"
"Benevolence Day"
"The River Lost"
"Love
Twice as Strong"
"Further/Closer (a Ghazal)"
"Red Haired Son"
"Arrhythmia"
