Eric Church Continues Throwback Theme on ‘Heart Like a Wheel’ From ‘Desperate Man’ [Listen]
Eric Church is letting fans hear another new track from his upcoming album, Desperate Man, and from the sound of "Heart Like a Wheel," quite a bit of the album might be inspired by old-school rock and soul influences.
Church incorporates an almost doo-wop time signature with a blues-soul musical motif for "Heart Like a Wheel," the second full song he's dropped from the new album. Like the title song, "Desperate Man," the new song draws on old time rock and roll and soul influences not only stylistically, but even sonically; here, Church's straightforward vocal performance is supported by organs and chimes that are mixed into a palette centering around simple electric guitar chords and lines. The overdriven-but-not-quite-distorted guitar tones wouldn't have been out of place on most old Bob Seger records, and neither would the gospel-style vocal harmonies that frame the chorus.
Church has also shared pieces of two other songs from Desperate Man, for which he once again enlisted producer Jay Joyce. "Some of It" is a somber reflection on how we absorb the lessons life teaches us, while "Hangin' Around" definitely gives a nod to the heavier side of '70s rock.
Get the Scoop on Eric Church's "Desperate Man"!
The singer-songwriter has shared that "Desperate Man" was inspired by the emotional aftermath of the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in October of 2017.
“I was a little lost for a while. I think like a lot of people I was in a little bit of a funk after something like that,” he reflects to Rolling Stone Country. “I was still a little burned out. A little bit going through the motions. I think that’s part of what happened when I first went into the studio, is I still wasn’t quite ready to get there."
Church enlisted Ray Wylie Hubbard, who he previously name-checked in "Mr. Misunderstood," to co-write "Desperate Man." The collaboration helped him jump-start the new album, which is set for release on Oct. 5.
“That’s where ‘Desperate Man’ kind of came from,” he says. “I wrote that in the studio. I got a little bit desperate in there to just find an album, because it was not fu--ing happening.”
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