Heavy Guilt's declaration of disagreement with everything Donald

Co-founded by Redwoods Music impresario Al Howard and keyboardist Josh Rice in 2009, the Heavy Guilt hung things up after their third and arguably best album, Heavy Guilt, in 2014. So why come back now, after a three-year hiatus?

“This is the only time I’ll ever say we were inspired by Donald Trump in the only way that Donald Trump can inspire — we wanted to add our opinion to the fray,” Howard says. “We were never much of a political band, but at a time like this, not raising your voice feels like a cop-out.”

The upcoming album, titled Spectral Hearts, is a departure for the band, previously known for their vintage, soulful sound.

“It’s definitely a bit more aggressive and quicker paced,” says Howard. “I think we did a decent job of honoring what we were and trying something different. We used a lot more odd keys and synths on this record, as well as the Hammond and Rhodes sound from prior recordings….

“We wrote an album that we hope is only relevant for a moment, but time has proven that it may be relatable for longer than we want it to be. There’s just been a vile deluge of news that informed a lot of these songs — from police shootings to the ascendency of a man who seemingly embodies everything we disagree with. So we put it into songs like ‘A Little Too Hot to Be Heaven’ and ‘Dark Heart,’ which is about the Charleston shootings. I hope we did it in a way that doesn’t come across preachy — and if it does, fuck it.”

The Heavy Guilt will debut their new material (produced by singer/guitarist/songwriter Erik Canzona, Howard, and Jordan Andreen and currently being mixed at Audio Design) at the Casbah on June 23. The release is scheduled for the fall.