Stream: The Avett Brothers, ‘Ain’t No Man’

Jessica Shalvoy on May 11th, 2016

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Sometimes all a song needs is a great bass line and a few spare body parts — at least if you’re The Avett Brothers. The North Carolina folk rockers have released a new single, “Ain’t No Man,” off their forthcoming album, “True Sadness,” due out on June 24^th. Rick Rubin is also back, marking this as the fourth album he has produced with the band. In a letter posted on the band’s website, Seth Avett describes their ninth studio album and follow up to 2013’s “Magpie and the Dandelion” as a “patchwork quilt, both thematically and stylistically.” Seth and Scott drew inspiration from their lives as well as a wide scope of influences, from Queen and Nine Inch Nails to calypso of the 1950s and country of the 1930s.

The undeniably catchy “Ain’t No Man” is a hand-clapping, foot-stomping good time paved by Bob Crawford’s bassline and loaded with signature Avett Brothers harmonies. “I think of ‘Ain’t No Man’ as a self-motivating anthem,” explains Seth, “a kind of currency to buy a little courage when you’re having trouble feeling courageous on your own.” Musically, this is The Avett Brothers looking even the most stubborn of folk-naysayers in the eye and daring them not to move.

||| Stream: “Ain’t No Man” and “True Sadness”