Transition often ignites new forms of inspiration and exploration, particularly in song. Following the departure of Alberta Cross co-founder, bassist and dear friend Terry Wolfers in 2013 after nearly a decade, only frontman Petter Stakee remained as the sole permanent member. Determined to continue down the path they’d cut through three albums and a handful of releases, he soldiered on with support from the band’s devoted following.
Stakee built the new songs for what would become last year’s self-titled effort in casual late-night jam sessions with friends, at various bars around lower Manhattan. Ready to fire, he recorded the tracks in Woodstock, N.Y., at Dreamland, an old cathedral church converted into a recording studio. The solitary venture inspired Petter to try new musical elements and direction for the Alberta Cross LP, layering horn sections throughout the 12 track collection and embracing a much stronger early Neil Young bend than on previous releases. Co-produced by Stakee and Claudius Mittendorfer (Temples, Interpol, Johnny Marr), the offering is a fluid expansion of experimentation and instrumentation under Stakee’s pondering, weary vocal a stone’s throw from Ben Bridwell in Band of Horses.
Ample evidence is found in a lovely stripped version of “Isolation,” his first Artist of The Month installment for Crave Onstage. He continued with an acoustic spin on the yearning folk beauty of “Western State,” before sitting down with us at Crave Studios for an in-depth discussion on the road ahead for Alberta Cross, the challenges of going it alone and the perpetual evolution of a song’s identity. Check it out below, exclusively on Crave:
Pick up the new Alberta Cross album right here, and keep up with Alberta Cross at the official website, as well as on Facebook and Twitter.
Previous Band of The Month Performances:
Battle Tapes / Alain Johannes / Le Butcherettes / Grieves / Steel Panther / Vintage Trouble / Semi Precious Weapons / Hot Karate / RX Bandits / Nico Vega / The Mowgli’s / Dessa / Everlast / Motopony /The Wild Feathers / The Silent Comedy / LP
