Today, acclaimed singer-songwriter Amos Lee shares his new song, "Darkest Places." The track, available everywhere now, is taken from his much-anticipated new album, Transmissions, due out Friday, August 9 on his own Hoagiemouth Records via Thirty Tigers.
"I wrote 'Darkest Places' in LA," says Lee. "It's about a strip club, but you wouldn't necessarily gauge that. It's not metaphorically dark, but literally dark—but I guess it translates to metaphorically dark, too. It's just a jam, an up-tempo tune that feels good and has a nice message to it. I was spending a lot of time, like I do everywhere, just observing things and people and places. But really, it's a song about not thinking that you're supposed to fall in love the Disney way every time."
LISTEN TO "DARKEST PLACES"
PRE-ORDER TRANSMISSIONS
Transmissions is Lee's 11th studio album and first new collection of original songs in more than two years. The album was heralded in April with the premieres of the graceful first single, “Hold On Tight,” along with an official music video by Anthony Mulcahy & James Delahunty. The second single, "Beautiful Day," is a deeply personal song about self-acceptance and anxiety, and was released in May.
LISTEN TO "BEAUTIFUL DAY"
LISTEN TO “HOLD ON TIGHT”
WATCH "HOLD ON TIGHT" OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO
Transmissions sees Amos Lee continuing to expand his sonic range while sharpening his closely observed lyrics that squarely address death, aging, and love. Self-produced by Lee for only the second time in his chart-topping, RIAA Gold-certified career (following 2013’s Spirit), the Philadelphia, PA-based artist returned to an old-school style of recording, working with his longtime band in a studio in rural Marlboro, NY built by drummer Lee Falco and his dad out of reclaimed wood from an old church. Playing live on the floor for long hours in close quarters, Lee and his fellow musicians were able to capture the album’s twelve songs in less than a week. Despite the simplicity of the set-up, Lee augmented his band’s soulful, folk-funk sound with arrangements that extend the scope of songs like the autobiographical “Beautiful Day” and the upbeat, jam-powered “Darkest Places.”
“There’s a lot of existential stuff in these songs,” says Amos Lee. “If you really listen to what’s in between the lines, there’s a lot of grappling with your place in the world, grappling with loss. There’s a lot of grappling with the balance between bailing out the boat and rowing at the same time – the experience of writing music and playing songs while trying, as we all are right now, to make sense of a world that feels like it’s changing really quickly.”
Transmissions represents the first release of original music on Lee’s recently launched label, Hoagiemouth Records (distributed through Thirty Tigers), following last year’s Honeysuckle Switches: The Songs of Lucinda Williams. A full range of exclusive merchandise is available now at his official web store HERE.
Lee is currently celebrating Transmissions and his incredible career on a wide-ranging headlining tour that started in early 2024 and continues through the summer before he joins the Indigo Girls in September for a co-headline tour that features sold-out shows at Dillon, CO’s Dillon Amphitheater (September 14), Morrison, CO’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre (September 15), and San Francisco, CA’s The Masonic (September 25). For complete details and remaining ticket availability, please visit www.amoslee.com.
AMOS LEE - ON TOUR 2024
JULY
11 – Lancaster, PA – American Music Theatre **
13 – Atlantic City, NJ – Music Box at the Borgata
SEPTEMBER
13 – Vail, CO – Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater †
14 – Dillon, CO – Dillon Amphitheater † (SOLD OUT)
15 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre † (SOLD OUT)
17 - Salt Lake City, UT - Red Butte Garden (SOLD OUT)
19 – San Diego, CA – The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park †
21 – Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl †
23 – Los Angeles, CA – Greek Theatre †
24 – Saratoga, CA – The Mountain Winery †
25 – San Francisco, CA – The Masonic † (SOLD OUT)
27 – Troutdale, OR – McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheater †
28 - Woodinville, WA – Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery †
** w/ Mikela Davis
† Co-Headline w/ Indigo Girls
