Category: Album

Phillip Phillips Releases New Song Magnetic, Announces New Album and Tour Dates

I apologise if it may take a moment for Phillip Phillips fans to unpack that title, because all at once earlier today Phillip released a new song, announced the title and release date of his third album and a list of new tour dates!

Simply titled Collateral, Phillip’s third album will finally be released into our hands, and the world, on January 19, 2018. Soon after, on February 9th, Phillip will launch his Magnetic Tour across the US where he will be stopping at some amazing venues along the way. If this wasn’t enough, tied in with the announcement was the release of “Magnetic,” a song Phillip debuted on tour last year. Both “Magnetic” and the album announcement were accompanied by their covers. And though they are quite different in their approach, they do both feature striking images of Phillip with his guitar.

It has been quite a different experience to listen to the studio version of Phillip’s new singles “Miles” and now “Magnetic;” both of which were performed heavily during his summer tour and even earlier shows. Whereas at a show the energy of a song is magnified by the volume, the venue’s acoustics, the crowd, and obviously the presence of the musicians, listening through your headphones to a studio version is about intimacy and the discovery of musical detail and musical choices.

From the start “Magnetic” was a fan favourite, in large part thanks to its mid-tempo, instant sing-along-ability. Though the studio version is not a huge departure from the version we heard live, I was still surprised by a lot of things when I first listened to it: the bright horns opening the song, the beautiful sound of the bass and drums, that extremely well-placed guitar, and a cool effect I still have not been able to figure out. Still the best surprise is at the end, a great bit of backing vocals, by a female singer, which definitely is a departure for Phillip. This is a phenomenal recording in my opinion, and I had goosebumps all over when the full band came in the first time and Phillip’s voice soared effortlessly on the chorus. Also, there is no more avoiding it, this song is dripping in sexiness: it’s a lush, intense, sensual musical metaphor of being near that person who is simply magnetic to us, from the lyrics (“pushing and pulling me”) right to that ending with those battling (in this case) male and female vocals. Also, Phillip’s voice has never sounded more amazing.

I am so happy and excited to hear who “the new Phillip” is (as per his words) on his new album; thankfully today we know we won’t have to wait that much longer.

Follow the links below to get “Magnetic,” pre-order the new album, and see all the tour dates!

Buy or stream Magnetic.
Pre-order Collateral.
And check out the dates for the Magnetic Tour here.

Phillip Phillips’ Summer Tour is Less Than a Week Away

The wait is almost over, Phillip Phillips and Matt Nathanson’ summer tour is less than a week away! The 40 dates U.S. summer tour starts this Friday, June 17 in San Diego, California and will take Phillip and Matt across the country, including 3 more shows in California, and stops in Las Vegas, NV, St Louis, MO, Boise, ID, and Atlanta, GA. The tour closes on August 13 at the Wisconsin State Fair in Milwaukee. The tour will not only bring Phillip’s and Matt’s fans together, but also fans of A Great Big World and Eric Hutchinson, who will join the tour on select dates.Continue Reading →

Phillip Phillips Hard at Work Recording His New Album

Just over two years after releasing Behind the Light, actual recording sessions are happening for Phillip Phillips‘ third album. Phillip has shared the news over several social media posts and has revealed that guitarist Errol Cooney is back doing some recording for the album. Errol has been busy with his own band, Legally Blynd, and playing with Steve Wonder during his Songs in the Key of Life tour last year. Continue Reading →

Celebrating Behind the Light: Song of the Week 11- Don’t Trust Me

In the musical and emotional roller coaster ride that is Behind the Light, no song reaches a higher musical and emotional peak than “Don’t Trust Me,” the second additional track on the deluxe version of the album, and the fifth written solely by Phillip. Little is known about this song, though Phillip recently indicated in a tweet that it’s an older song he wrote when he was younger.

While Phillip is still very young, “Don’t Trust Me” certainly captures an energy that’s a little different from the one we find throughout Behind the Light, and which I think actually finds its parallel on another older song, the amazing opener from Phillip’s first album, The World from the Side of the Moon, “Man on the Moon.” Like “Moon”, “Don’t Trust Me” explores some big themes lyrically, while also highlighting Phillip’s talent for delivering rich, fast-paced, rhythmically strong lyrics that take almost precedence from the music, the message flowing almost like a stream of thought, guiding the song much more than the music does.

This doesn’t mean that the music in “Don’t Trust Me” takes a back seat, quite the opposite, as the more complex the ideas get, the richer the music becomes, going from a bare bass line and snare drum on the verses, to beautiful, dream-like strings on the bridge, to a full band accompaniment–including a gorgeous horn arrangement–by the end of the song. The effect is exhilarating, inspiring, transformational–a lot to take in, specially coming from a song that’s only three and a half minutes long.

Still, this powerful effect is due very much to the lyrics, which remain the driving force of the song, both because of their form–long, rich sentences that often have no clear beginning or end– and because of the ideas they explore: identity, self-doubt, self-discovery; the quest to understand one’s place in the world. In the process, Phillip transforms probably very personal experiences into universal themes, touching on ambition and humility, luck and free-will, on the idea of individual potential and fulfillment. Ultimately it’s about being present, fully conscious of being alive and able to seize all the opportunities that come our way.

I have said before that trying to understand Phillip’s lyrics is like trying to find shapes in the clouds, we could make them out to be about almost anything we want. This is certainly true of “Don’t Trust Me.” Still, when a song is able to touch us, to make us curious, to move us in ways we haven’t been moved before, it must mean that we are able to recognize ourselves in it, however intuitively or briefly.

In the end, “Don’t Trust Me” conveys a vertiginous feeling, that of understanding the vastness of the universe and our place in it: we remain small and insignificant, yet each of us unique and capable of the extraordinary. The feeling is also that understanding is fleeting, but that we go on, our quest for meaning, eternal.

Listen to an awesome live version of “Don’t Trust Me” below. And, if you haven’t gotten it already, click here to get Behind the Light!

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Read about our previous “Songs of the Week.”

Celebrating Behind The Light: Song of the Week 10 – Trigger

In April of 2014, with a few weeks still to go until the release of Behind the Light, a video surfaced of a brand new song Phillip Phillips had debuted during a show in his home state of Georgia. It was a heavy and dark song, fully-formed, and played in its entirety. The song, which very soon was revealed was called “Trigger” hinted at the direction the new album would go, which was at least a few shades darker than The World from the Side of The Moon and recently released single “Raging Fire.”

It’s sometimes hard for a song to live up to the very first version we hear of it (especially if it’s live) but upon the release of Behind the Light, the studio version of “Trigger” more than matched the live version in energy, intensity, expression and execution.

One of two truly heavy songs on the album (the other being “Fly”), “Trigger” is also perhaps the darkest of all, mainly because of its lyrics, a story of a mind tormented by terrible pain and memories. These are some of the most vivid lyrics as well, going from a straight narrative in the verses to more obscure, more metaphorical statements in the chorus that defy a strictly literal interpretation. Phillip—who has solo writing credit here—delivers the lyrics with deep, raw emotion, managing to convey a pain that is really beyond imagination.

The music, heavy, rich and layered throughout but even more so in the chorus, also very much tells the story along with the lyrics, with delicate guitar, and haunting keys and trumpet that echo the anguish of the words. Musically, the heavy chorus of “Trigger” is also one of the most satisfying in the whole album, offering a release that’s very different from the almost spiritual one we feel in “Fly.” Here, the heaviness is a channel, an expression, of the fear and desperation described in the lyrics. The beauty of the song lies in that, in its ability to constrict our heart with pain, but completely rock our souls too; a merging of seemingly contradictory emotions that’s incredibly effective and powerful. It is also perfectly fitting for the story being told in “Trigger,” for what can be more painful, more earth shattering in its devastation than to be witness–real or imagined–to a dying soul, to the last beats of dying heart?

Check out the video of Phillip and band debuting “Trigger” live. And if you haven’t yet done so click here to buy Behind the Light!

Read our previous “Songs of the Week.”