Pop/rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. is the lead & rhythm guitarist and songwriting member of the GRAMMY® and BRIT Awards-winning band The Strokes. He has released 4 solo albums to date, most recently the acclaimed “Francis Trouble” in 2018 which spawned the radio single “Far Away Truths”. In the 4 years, since then, The Strokes released their US Top 10 charting GRAMMY® nominated rock record “The New Abnormal” and toured the world extensively. Albert also began the songwriting process for his 5th solo album “Melodies on Hiatus”, a 19-track album, crafted in a most experimental style. Albert teamed up with his writing partner, Canadian songwriter, and poet Simon Wilcox (whom he never met during the process) and had lengthy conversations via the telephone; Simon would jot down notes from Albert’s stream of consciousness, and draft the lyrics on her typewriter, and drop them into his letterbox! Albert then added the lyrics to the melodies he had already crafted. The songwriting process became a long distant “anonymous love affair of ideas & lyrics.” The album covers themes of childhood, surviving adolescence, adulthood, vulnerability, fame, relationship with self and others, and is Albert’s “deconstructed broken down ego reaction” to “Francis Trouble.” The album also features songs with GoldLink, Matt Helders (of the Arctic Monkeys), Steve Stevens and Rainsford, and was mixed by Tony Hoffer (known for his work with Beck, Air, M83, The Kooks, Fitz and the Tantrums, Metric, Chromeo, etc.) and mastered by Dave Cooley at Elysian Masters (Paramore, Spoon, Tame Impala, Jimmy Eat World, Peanut Butter Wolfe).

The album cover art is a license of Wassily Kandinsky’s famous painting “Seven Circles,” which is an abstract and spiritual expression of color and shape on canvas, “the fusion of the two greatest opposites, that of the concentric and of the eccentric in a single form and in equilibrium. This painting is subjective and relies on the infinite possibilities of interpretation of the circle to create a sense of spiritual and emotional harmony for the viewer” much like the songs on this album!

Albert now prepares to announce and launch the album pre-order on Tuesday April 4, with the release of the instant grat track and lead single “100-99 feat. GoldLink”; which gives fans a taste of the aural delights to expect. Albert describes the song as a reflection of “Realizing you’ll never be a child again, but you’ll always feel like one.”

We will be running an aggressive pre-order campaign (Vinyl/CD/Digital) that will be supported by a substantial global marketing fund and robust plan including a comprehensive press (tastemaker, lifestyle, music, fashion), digital marketing, college & tastemaker radio, out of home/lifestyle, retail & tour marketing campaign. We plan to release 8 more instant grat tracks on Tues May 9, along with a Spotify waterfall product, as we heat up to the June 23 album release date and livestream album release event (TBC). The extensive album will be delivered as standard digital and ATMOS masters.

“Realizing you’ll never be a child again, but you’ll always feel like one” – Albert Hammond Jr