August 18, 2021
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats return with their third studio album, The Future, set for release on November 5 via Stax Records.
The Future caps off a run of career milestones for Rateliff and the band, including a debut on “Saturday Night Live” featuring the premiere performance of “Redemption,” written and featured in the film, Palmer, starring Justin Timberlake as well as an appearance on “CMT Crossroads” with country singer/songwriter Margo Price while Rateliff’s “Tiny Desk (Home) Concert” premiered on NPR Music.
For the recording, Rateliff and The Night Sweats escaped to his new Colorado studio to write an album’s worth of songs, shedding light on their unique observations and songwriting reflecting on our current times. While recognizable, the new work has evolved and pushes the band to a new level.
The Future’s lead single, “Survivor,” debuts today. The song speaks to one’s vulnerable reckoning with adulthood and its responsibilities; Rateliff concludes the song by singing, “I’m afraid that the weight of the world is catching up to you / I’m afraid to admit that it’s catching up to me too / Does the weight continue to grow until it finally buries you?”
Recorded at Rateliff’s own Broken Creek Studio outside of Denver, The Futurewas produced by Bradley Cook (Bon Iver, Kevin Morby, The War on Drugs) and R.M.B.—the production trio of Rateliff, Patrick Meese (The Night Sweats) and James Barone (Beach House)—who were the team behind Rateliff’s acclaimed 2020 solo album, And It’s Still Alright. Additional production was added by musician, engineer and producer Elijah Thompson (Father John Misty, Richard Swift) while Jenny Lewis, Jess Wolfe (Lucius) and Amelia Meath (Sylvan Esso) contributed backing vocals.
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats are Rateliff (vocals, guitar), Joseph Pope III (bass), Meese (drums, percussion, keys), Luke Mossman (guitar), Mark Shusterman (organ, keys), Andreas Wild (saxophone), Daniel Hardaway (trumpet) and Jeff Dazey (saxophone).
The band’s self-titled debut album was a breakout success. Now certified Gold in the U.S., it has sold over a million records worldwide. Their sophomore album Tearing at the Seams debuted in March 2018 to widespread critical acclaim and included three singles which hit #1 at Triple A Radio. Last year, Rateliff released his first solo album in seven years via Stax Records. And It’s Still Alright peaked at #3 on iTunes’ “Top Albums” chart, debuted at #1 on Billboard’s “Americana/Folk” chart, landed at #2 on their “Current Rock” chart and resided at #1 on the Americana Albums Chart for eight consecutive weeks. Earlier this year, Rateliff released a new live album, Red Rocks 2020, which was record in an empty Red Rocks Amphitheatre during Rateliff’s mid-September run of socially distanced shows.
