Alice In Chains are trying to make a comeback with a new singer and an upcoming new album, Black Gives Way To Blue (Virgin/EMI), which is set for release on September 29 through EMI Music’s Virgin Records label. The disc will feature the recording debut with the group of singer William DuVall, who first took the mic for the band’s 2006 reunion tour after original vocalist Layne Staley died in 2002.
It’s a long, uphill battle for a band – even one with more than 17 million albums sold and multiple Grammy nominations – to bounce back from the sudden death of their lead singer, but Alice is trying, and with a new singer, a new album and, hopefully, a second chance, they could just pull it off.
Regarding their album’s lead single, "A Looking In View," Alice In Chains vocalist/guitarist Jerry Cantrell says, "The song basically speaks to any number of things that keep you balled up inside. A cell of our own making with an unlocked door that we choose to remain in. Focusing our attention inward instead of reaching out to a much larger world. I think this is common to us all. It’s funny how hard we fight to hang on to a bone we can’t pull through a hole in the fence, or how difficult it is to put down the bag of bricks and move on."
Black Gives Way To Blue is the band’s first new studio release in 14 years. The quartet (guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell, drummer Sean Kinney, bassist Mike Inez and vocalist/guitarist William DuVall) recorded the album with producer Nick Raskulinecz (Rush, Foo Fighters) at Studio 606 in Northridge, CA and Henson Studios in Hollywood, and the album title first appeared on Amazon.com without any prior announcement from the band, strangely enough.
On July 18th, Alice In Chains will be sharing the stage with Kid Rock at Comerica Park in Detroit, to be followed by festival shows with Metallica overseas, including an August 1 date at Marlay Park in Dublin and an August 2 show at the Sonisphere Festival at Knebworth. They’ll wrap up the international trip with a string of headlining dates, set to kick off August 4th with a sold-out performance at London’s Scala.
