If Jarrod Dickenson’s third studio album, BIG TALK sounds like a mighty roar of defiance, that’s not a design choice or a marketing decision. The big Texan is settling scores all over town and he means every f*cking word.
So what happened in the years since the release of Dickenson’s soulful sophomore long-player, Ready the Horses, to have turned this honey-voiced southern gentleman into a brawler? After a major label deal-gone-bad threatened to choke off his career, Covid complications left him with a life-long medical condition and the Trump era sought to eviscerate the notion that America might still be that shining city on a hill, Dickenson would have certainly been forgiven for retreating to his Nashville home to lick his wounds and maybe write a collection of introspective self-pity anthems. Instead, the hardships and infuriation of recent years have only added steel to the resolve of an artist already willing to do it the hard way, prepared to stand in the face of a music business that shows dwindling regard for the brand of artistry that first inspired him to pick up a guitar and sing for his life.
Today, Dickenson shared the first single from BIG TALK, “Long Hard Look,” a swampy, gritty, low-down groover that asks listeners to examine themselves and how they treat those around them. “We live in an age where it seems our first instinct is to succumb to our darker nature,” says Dickenson. “We’re quick to make snap judgments about people and to attack anyone who thinks or acts differently than we do.”
“Long Hard Look” suggests that everyone take a step back and ask themselves—just as the song does—“Are you picking up your brother, or are you knocking him down?”
Fans can stream or purchase “Long Hard Look” today at this link, watch its beautifully animated lyric video at this link, and be sure to pre-save or pre-order BIG TALK ahead of its February 3rd release right here.
Dickenson is finishing up a tour run through the Northeast this week at Atwood’s Tavern in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on October 16th and New York City’s Rockwood Music Hall - Stage 1 on October 18th. Tour dates and ticket information can be found at jarroddickenson.com/tour.
More About BIG TALK: This album represents Dickenson’s most direct and uncompromising body of songwriting to date and his decision to occupy the producer’s chair has injected BIG TALK with a drive and coherence that compliments the muscle of its material. Furthermore, Dickenson has assembled a band of ferocious players to bring these songs to life with striking authenticity in a series of live sessions recorded to tape.
The album features the talents of Jano Rix (The Wood Brothers) on drums and keys, Ted Pecchio (Doyle Bramhall II, Tedeschi Trucks Band) on bass, JP Ruggieri on guitars, and Claire Dickenson on backing vocals. Oliver Wood of The Wood Brothers makes a guest appearance, singing on “Home Again,” and Ethan Johns (Producer - Ray LaMontagne, Ryan Adams, Laura Marling, Kings of Leon) wrote the string arrangement for the closing torch song, “Goodnight.” Together they create that unmistakable sound that only comes from the assembly of great players, in a room, having a blast. And what better way to flip the bird at those dark entities that inspired the album’s creation than to rage with such joy?
If Dickenson’s previous works have ventured a foot into the territory of rock and roll, BIG TALK plants a large flag. It’s classic like Petty, gritty like Waits. There are McCartney-esque melodies and the blues get thrown down with a certain Rolling Stones swagger, and yet Jarrod Dickenson has crafted a sound that is all his own. BIG TALK sounds for all the world like a man who has found his groove. Get the record, see a show, just don’t piss him off.
BIG TALK Tracklist:
1. Buckle Under Pressure
2. Born To Wander
3. Home Again (feat. Oliver Wood & Jano Rix)
4. Prefer To Lose
5. Bamboozled
6. With Any Luck
7. If You’re Looking
8. Long Hard Look
9. Don’t Deprive Me
10. Goodnight
