BOB MOULD RELEASES “FORECAST OF RAIN” | NEW SONG FROM UPCOMING ALBUM BLUE HEARTS
MERGE RECORDS
Bob Mould has released โForecast of Rainโ off of his explosive upcoming album Blue Hearts, which arrives via Merge Records on Friday, September 25; pre-orders are available now.
Mould released this statement about the song:
โAs a child, my mother took me to Sunday Mass. Iโve written many songs around religion. In the 2000s, I went back to the Catholic Church for three yearsย โ but I did not find my place.
โI recognize the importance of religion for those who believe: the worship, the rituals, the community; loving thy neighbor, following commandments, doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. In short, be nice to people, help however you can, and donโt steal stuff.
โBut right now, Iโm having a hard time understanding how certain religious sectarians can support the behavior of those who occupy the Peopleโs House. How can you endorse their disregard for truth? How can you tolerate the incessant vindictiveness? How can you stand by your man while people are teargassed to clear a path to the Lordโs House?
โIโm not good at quoting scripture, but I can manage two words: Jesus wept.โ
โForecast of Rainโ is the second song released from Mouldโs 14thย solo LP, Blue Heartsย โ and follows the provocative first single โAmerican Crisisโ from June. That song garnered great attention from the press, with Rolling Stone writing that it โvibrates with urgency,โ NPR saying the song is โpure punk furyโ and Paste describing the song as a โscabrous, pissed-off screed against the โfucked-up USAโ weโre living in.โ
Blue Hearts is perhaps the most directly confrontational work of Bob Mouldโs four-decade career, a raging 14-track collection described by its creator as โthe catchiest batch of protest songs Iโve ever written in one sitting.โ Produced by Mould at Chicagoโs famed Electrical Audio with longtime collaborator Beau Sorenson engineering, the albumย โ which once again features backing from the crack rhythm section of drummer Jon Wurster and bassist Jason Narducyย โ nods to the veteran singer-songwriterโs groundbreaking past while remaining firmly planted in the issues of the day. Where Sunshine Rock captured Mould at his most โviolently happyโ (according to Rolling Stone), Blue Hearts is both seething and pointed, the raging yin to โthe previous albumโs positive yang. The acoustic opener โHeart on My Sleeveโ catalogues the ravages of climate change, while โAmerican Crisisโย โ written initially for Sunshine Rock but deemed โtoo heavyโ by its writerย โ spits plainspoken fire at the people who fomented this catastrophic moment in history, while โForecast of Rainโ questions the ethos of American community: โThis love this neighbor thing: Does it apply to all mankind, or only those who fit neatly inside your narrow lines?โ
Bob Mould
Blue Hearts
(Merge Reecords)
Release Date: September 25, 2020