Video: Night Beats, ‘New Day’

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Night Beats

The pandemic-induced lockdown might feel a lot like Groundhog’s Day, but singer-songwriter and Night Beats mastermind Danny Lee Blackwell has turned it into a “New Day.”

That’s the title of Night Beats’ gritty new single, which introduced the project’s fifth album, “Outlaw R&B,” out May 7 via London-based Fuzz Club. “New Day” arrives with a Vanessa Pla-directed video in which Blackwell is surrounded by flames, a suggestion, perhaps, that COVID-19 has put him through some hell, too.

The Texas-born, L.A.-based artist puts it this way: “‘New Day’ is my postcard from purgatory. Upon going into lockdown, I holed myself up with Akira Kurosawa movies and canned goods. This is the result of sleepless nights while hearing the world crumble outside my window. I sing of desperation and loss, while grinning in the face of an uncertain future.”

The album is the follow-up to Night Beats’ 2019 Dan Auerbach-produced album “Myth of a Man,” as well as the release of a full-length covering garage-rock progenitors the Sonics’ “Boom.”

The new album was made with producer Nic Jodoin at the legendary Valentine Recording Studio.

“‘Outlaw R&B’ is music for the borderless, the free, the outcasts and the forgotten,” Blackwell says. “Through this medium you escape the confines of mental feudalism and bask in the euphoric glow of psychedelic R&B. The outlaw is the runner. Those whose minds aren’t sold by perfect pitch and clean fingernails. Take heed as each color-coordinated minute of this record will induce temporary insanity. However, do enjoy the trip — just leave your coat and jacket at the door with Willie [Nelson] and position yourself near the bar, where [Isaac] Hayes runs the show.”

||| Watch: The video for “New Day”

||| Previously: “That’s All You Got”