THE WHITE BUFFALO will return this autumn with his eighth studio album titled YEAR OF THE DARK HORSE.
The Oregon-born, Southern California-bred artist has completed the record with GRAMMY Award-winning producer Jay Joyce (Eric Church, Brothers Osborne, Fidlar) at his Neon Cross studio in Nashville. For THE WHITE BUFFALO, aka singer-songwriter-guitarist JAKE SMITH, it was time to take the less-traveled path and embark on a voyage of discovery.
“You think we’re a country band? A folk band? Americana? Rock? What the fuck are you gonna say now?!” says SMITH. “With this album, I wanted something outside of what I’ve ever done. I wanted to open up. Do something dangerous. I’m hard to put into a singular genre as it is, but now I really wanted to take away any kind of preconception or pigeon-holing.”
SMITH adds, “And don’t ask me, cos I don’t know what it is! It’s a genre-bending thing–there’s elements and influences from ELO, Daniel Lanois, Tom Waits, The Boss, circus, pirate music, yacht rock, and I’m driving and pushing some of these numbers in a way I’ve never done before.”
Roughly based around the shifting of the seasons paralleled with the shifting of a relationship, on YEAR OF THE DARK HORSE, SMITH continues his evocative storytelling through emotionally weighted songs that allow the imagination of the listener to play an important part throughout; the music builds on a tale of debauchery (of the drunken variety) and blame, of love and loss, a life lived against the odds, the whole thing set in one lunar year, following our anti-hero through the highs and lows of the seasons.
From highlights “Kingdom For A Fool,” “52 Card Pickup,” and “Donna,” YEAR OF THE DARK HORSE offers an invigorating and wonderfully unpredictable listen. A collection of 12 musical vignettes, individual yet constant in flow, it’s THE WHITE BUFFALO’s most ambitious and well-rounded work to date, with the full scope of SMITH’s songwriting craft on view.
