Boston-based heavy metallers Cortez return with their fourth album “Thieves and Charlatans” on Ripple Music this October 18th, and unleash their new video and single “Gimme Danger (On My Stereo)” today!
The follow-up to 2020’s “Sell the Future”, CORTEZ‘s new album “Thieves and Charlatans” demonstrates their ability to command a sound that is both classic-rooted and modern in its construction. Working in continued collaboration with producer Benny Grotto at Mad Oak Studio, and with the returning lineup of vocalist Matt Harrington, guitarists Scott O’Dowd and Alasdair Swan, bassist Jay Furlo and drummer Alexei Rodriguez (although he has since been replaced by Kyle Rasmussen).
The album features guest vocalists Craig Riggs (Kind, Roadsaw, Sasquatch, etc.) and Jim Healey (We’re All Gonna Die, Black Thai, Blood Lightning, etc.) and sees CORTEZ look forward as ever while regarding their past in a new way.
“We were a bit selfish while writing and recording this album,” says guitarist Scott O’Dowd. “There’s probably one of our catchiest songs in ‘Gimme Danger (On My Stereo),’ and yet some of our longer, gloomier songs as well. There are also more complex guitar and vocal arrangements than in the past.”
“This album is an anomaly of sorts because these songs were written and recorded in a vacuum, during a pandemic,” reminds vocalist Matt Harrington. “Cortez has never been shy about playing new songs before they are released, and this is the first time we didn’t have the filter of an audience. I feel like this is a more personal record as a result. We wrote these songs as friends in a room that no longer exists, holding onto something real in a prolonged period of extreme doubt, and we present them in the same way.”
With unmatched consistency of craft and performance, Cortez’s willful progression continues through “Thieves and Charlatans”, a record born boldly of tumult that speaks to past as much as future that’s just waiting for you to take it on. (Words by JJ Koczan)
