Release Date: February 10, 2023
Genre: Folk Rock, Pop Rock, Alternative Rock
Label: French Poet Society
A month shy of a decade ago, American Authors struck the gold mine with the release of their massively popular single, "Best Day Of My Life." A song that has now gone six-times platinum. Fast forward to 2023, American Authors wanted to go back full circle and write how they did in 2012/2013. The New York City-based folk rock/pop rock act is back with their fourth studio album, Best Night of My Life. Continuing to do what the three-piece band does best, the band wrote classic up-tempo songs with themes meant to uplift and share wildly positive messages -something that the band has come to be known for. The intention was to write the album without any outward influences by not paying attention to what other musicians are doing at the moment and to write a collection of tunes from the heart to make the most apologetic American Authors album for themselves and most importantly their fans.
“At the ten-year mark, it made sense to bring it back to the beginning,” recalls frontman Zac Barnett. “Obviously, we’ve grown a lot in the last ten years and are in different places. However, we’re still the same band with a positive message. We’ve noticed which songs resonate live, so we thought about how we could maintain those elements that the American Authors family really enjoys. It was nostalgic and updated. Best Night of My Life sounds like it could’ve been our second album, but it took us ten years of growing in the music industry as songwriters and producers to get here. Rather than looking at what was going on around us, we looked at who we are.”
American Authors start their fourth studio record with the exuberant title track, "Best Night of My Life," setting off a ten-song tracklist of epic proportions. There's not a single skippable track among the ten songs the band placed on their latest release, and that can take a long time to perfect such an accomplishment. For American Authors, it took Zac, Dave, and Matt ten years of writing, producing and performing music to the masses to finally hone their craft and become the musicians they've strived to be over the last several years for their fourth album. One thing that's without question is that Best Night of My Life is one fun, uplifting ride throughout its twenty-seven and nineteen-second runtime. The new record could easily be mistaken as a sequel to their debut, Oh, What A Life (2014). The album is chock full of the perfect blend of folky and pop elements from the past and intertwined with the band's insatiable melodies and choruses to get you moving on your feet and singing along. Best Night of My Life is a mix of upbeat storytelling, love songs, slower numbers, and immensely infectious tracks. It's also full to the brim with many subjects like "Best Night of My Life," which tackles living your best life while still on your journey of self-discovery. Then you have tracks like "Same Bed" -the perfect summery tune to blast in your vehicle, windows rolled down as you're driving. "We Happy" is American Authors' spin on the legendary Bobby McFerrin song "Don't Worry, Be Happy." "We Happy" is the band's way of saying they're living their lives and are happy doing it. Then you have your love songs like "Blind For Love," a song about trusting your feelings and finding your way through this world with the person you love. While the album is full of upbeat, happy tunes, the band wasn't shy to include a few heartfelt, emotional, and touching tracks like "Live On" and "Movin' On." "Live On" is a simple, stripped-back acoustic ode to Dave's sister, who passed away a couple of years ago around the holidays -something that monumental was quite tough on him and the rest of the American Authors camp. "Movin' On" is a track that handles the topic of getting out of an abusive relationship. Touching on the realization that even after you leave the relationship, you can be astounded the other person never comprehends it was an abusive relationship. Nevertheless, American Authors' new album is out now and you can now stream and purchase Best Night of My Life on all major streaming services and physically online or in record stores now.
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