The new record from The Duke & The King may not be a full fledged concept album but it might as well be. The album is so full of songs about lies, recriminations, bad choices, lost loves, regrets and the joys and horrors of a misspent youth that you get the picture pretty quickly. There’s a sad story attached to the making of the record, but since I promptly threw the bio sheet away and would rather not have that influence my listening anyway you’ll have to search that out for yourself. Needless to say the record is a loosely tied together both thematically and musically.

“Union Street” may have the thumpingest bass and the most obnoxious heavy drum beat (Simon Felice was the drummer in The Felice Brothers, after all) but it also is the song on the record that best shows his promise as a writer who can juxtapose images of hopelessness with a glimmer of hope (if you wonder in which song the band proves it can write a hit check out “If You Ever Get Famous” and if you are curious if the band can write a song that isn’t completely melancholy check out the wonderful “Summer Morning Rain”).

Union Street

“The Morning I Get To Hell” (Kitchen Rehearsal)

“The Devil Is Real” (Kitchen Rehearsal)

I suppose a drummer announcing he’s leaving a band is a common and rather mundane thing. But if at the same time that drummer announces his new project and it’s as promising as The Duke & The King it’s cause to celebrate. Simon Felice of the Felice Bothers just released this news:

Dear Friends and Family, this is just a little note to show my deepest gratitude for all the letters and concern I’ve received over my absence from The Felice Brothers stage over the past few months, and for the boundless love and belief you’ve shown for our music over the years.

This winter has been a time of tragedy, sadness, and regeneration in my life. I’d been working on a new book and recording some songs with my dear old friend Robert close to home in the Catskill Mountains and my long time love and I were expecting our first child. Then in late January out of the blue we lost our baby girl and it really broke my heart and turned my world inside out. In the process of mourning it helped a lot to turn some of the sorrow and revelation into songs and after a while I came back to Robert and I’s cabin/studio to put them down and to finish the other recordings we started…

(full letter here)

So the result of his work with long time friend Robert ‘Chicken’ Burke (George Clinton, Sweet Honey and the Rock) will come out in the summer in the UK as the lp Nothing Gold Can Stay. There’s also a 4 track 7″ being released May 9. You’ll find out all you need to know at the band’s Loose Records page here. I’m proud to present you with the song “If You Ever Get Famous” that eloquently describes the ups and mostly downs of fame. The band has three upcoming shows:

May 20 2009 7:30P UNION HALL – NEW YORK BROOKLYN
May 26 2009 8:00P THE BUSH HALL – LONDON
May 27 2009 10:00P MADRID – TBA

If You Ever Get Famous

P.S. Comments are now closed on Songs:Illinois. You can get in touch with me at cbonnell@gmail.com or twitter.