It’s been a while now, five albums to be precise, that we’ve been trying to control the emotion that emanates from a song from The War On Drugs. Invariably, the American group, originally from Philadelphia, succeeds in capturing a few notes or a few riffs.
Today, the group has nothing to do with the small independent ensemble of the beginnings. Their latest album, A Deeper Understanding, achieved worldwide success and in 2018 they won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. Since then, the leader and singer Adam Granduciel has continued to strum texts … in all humility: “You know, I always think I have things to prove, if only to myself… Today we are forced to be humble, so many things crush us in this world. When you make a record, it involves competition, you hope for good reviews… But now, with the pandemic, everyone realizes that it is not that important.“.
The success of a disc does not guarantee that the following ones will be successful.
Adam Granduciel, leader of The War On Drugs, at franceinfo
However, the group begins a gigantic tour, with a peak next January at Madison Square Garden in New York, a disproportionate temple. And there, there is a paradox, for an artist who has become very well known, where he was not looking for glory. Adam Granduciel, always: “The rooms get bigger over the albums, it’s exhausting, even if it’s fun too, but not for me, because after the concerts I hardly speak to anyone. Look, we’re playing at Madison Square Garden and then I’m going to talk to someone from my high school, that I haven’t seen in 20 years, and then here’s someone else, and another, and another : that’s what a politician must feel! But me, I feel awful, I wish I didn’t have to do this anymore, because the tomorrow is always horrible for me“. From then on, the only truth: music.
A new album for The War On Drugs | The chronicle of Yann Bertrand
to listen
The War On Drugs, I Don’t Live Here Anymore (Atlantic Records). Album available. In concert in Paris on April 9, at the Olympia.