Celebrated roots rock band Dispatch have announced the release of their anticipated 8th studio album Break Our Fall out May 28th on Bomber Records/AWAL Recordings. Marking the band’s eighth studio release, the songs on this record speak not only to Chadwick Stokes’ and Brad Corrigan’s personal evolution, but to human nature itself, charting a course from denial and resistance to growth and acceptance through deep introspection and empathetic character studies. For Stokes and Corrigan, the only constant these past few years has been change – marriage, birth, death, departure – add to that an exceedingly tense political climate, long-overdue reckonings on racial justice/gender equality and a runaway global pandemic and you’ve got Break Our Fall, an album that enriches Dispatch’s distinguished legacy, on which the depth and breadth of the band’s stunning songwriting is displayed in full force. PRESS HERE to listen to their new single “Born On Earth,” a song about making peace with what lies beyond our control. Break Our Fall is available for pre-order now – PRESS HERE. Fans who preorder the album before Friday, May 14th at 5pm ET will gain automatic entry into the “Break Our Fall Sessions” where they will enjoy a behind the scenes conversation about the making of the album, get a chance to engage with the Chad & Brad directly, and be the first fans to hear some of the new songs played live. Sessions will begin June 1st and additional details will follow to all who preorder the album.
The band has been teasing details of the album’s launch in recent months, having released six singles including fan favorite “May We All,” which is currently climbing at AAA Radio. The music on Break Our Fall is pure Dispatch – blending infectious roots rock with hints of reggae, folk, and blues, and the production is similarly lean and energetic, leaving plenty of space for some of the group’s most pointed, political lyrics to date. The result is a timely and essential album from a band still breaking new ground two-and-a-half decades into its storied career, an ode to resilience and survival that manages to find hope and joy on even the darkest of days.
The album finds Stokes and Corrigan more explicit and outspoken than ever, working with frequent collaborators Mike Sawitzke (Eels) and John Dragonetti (The Submarines) to craft a wide-ranging collection of cathartic songs. The album works its way through a litany of modern fears and frustration on the driving “May We All” and laments the direction of the country in no uncertain terms on the simmering “All This Time” (featuring soulful vocal contributions from The White Buffalo). Reality sets in with the heartache of missed opportunities and lost loved ones coming into sharp focus on songs like the bittersweet “As Old As I” and epic “Connie Hawkins,” which tips its cap to everything from Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen to The Cars and Violent Femmes. By the time fans push play on the soaring title track, a change is in the air, and grief and helplessness begin to give way to hope and determination. The pendulum swings back towards optimism with the stream of consciousness “Elevator Operator” and waltzing “Born On Earth” making peace with what lies beyond our control and the dreamy “Stoned Enough” finds transcendence in human connection and ecstatic closer “Pour Into You” recognizes that, despite all our brokenness, love remains, and always will. Break Our Fall was mastered by Emily Lazar who made Grammy history this year when she became the first mastering engineer to land three album of the year nominations in the same year and has worked with everyone from Beck to David Bowie to Dolly Parton.
For updates and information please visit www.dispatchmusic.com.
Break Our Fall Track Listing:
1. May We All
2. All This Time
3. One By One
4. As Old As I
5. The Legend of Connie Hawkins
6. Silent Type
7. Break Our Fall
8. Second Class Soldier
9. Promise Land
10. Born on Earth
11. Greta
12. Elevator Operator
13. Stoned Enough To Gather In The Night
14. The Poet Nurse and The Identical Queen
15. Pour Into You
16. Connie Hawkins Coda (CD/vinyl only)
