Robert Francis returns with his fourth album Heaven, which was released June 3 on Aeronaut Records.
Recorded with his new backing band The Night Tide, the album’s 13 songs were produced by Francis, mixed by Mark Rains (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club) and mastered by Howie Weinberg (Jeff Buckley, Nirvana).
In support of the album, Francis and band are heading out on a 29-date US tour.
Following the release of the critically lauded third album Strangers In The First Place in 2012, Francis nearly abandoned his music career after a near nervous breakdown derailed his supporting tour of the album.
Immersing himself in drugs and alcohol, he shaved his head and moved to Michigan with a girl he’d met on the road, unsure of his future. That is until his passion for music came calling again, allowing to him find new inspiration in these experiences and setting the path toward a new album.
Watch the video for album cut “Love is a Chemical” here:
“I’d never known a life other than one consumed by music,” he says. “I had to lose myself in order to rediscover who I was in the beginning. I was able to do that in Michigan but eventually left to start over and pursue a series of songs that kept showing up in my dreams.” Reinvigorated and with a fresh outlook, Robert put together The Night Tide to back him and began laying down the album in a barn, then a beach house, eventually finishing it at his newly built home studio.
Heaven is Robert Francis’ most realized album to date. It is not his most polished. It is a record that utilizes every facet and flaw of his being. Through his kaleidoscopic lyrics and vivid musical landscapes, Francis paints the picture of a man on the fringes of himself and reality. “Heaven is an idea, place or feeling in which all of us are after yet cannot fully understand. Most of the songs on this album are concepts dealing with things that are much bigger than us.”
After giving the album a live warm up in Europe, Robert kicks off a 29-date U.S. tour in support of Heaven on June 11.
ROBERT FRANCIS & THE NIGHT TIDE tour dates:
6/11 – Hi Dive – Denver, CO
6/12 – Record Bar – Kansas City, MO
6/13 – 7th Street Entry – Minneapolis, MN
6/14 – Vaudeville Mews – Des Moines, IA
6/15 – The Space – Evanston, IL
6/16 – The Drake – Toronto, ON
6/17 – Middle East – Cambridge, MA
6/18 – Cafe Nine – New Haven, CT
6/19 – Rough Trade – Brooklyn, NY
6/20 – Mercury Lounge – New York, NY
6/21 – Boot & Saddle – Philadelphia, PA
6/22 – DC9 – Washington, DC
6/23 – The Mothlight – Asheville, NC
6/24 – Vinyl – Atlanta, GA
6/25 – High Watt – Nashville, TN
6/27 – Fitzgerald's Downstairs – Houston, TX
6/28 – Stubbs Jr. – Austin, TX
7/1 – Urban Lounge – Salt Lake City, UT
7/2 – The Crux – Boise, ID
7/3 – Tractor Tavern – Seattle, WA
7/4 – Mississippi Studios – Portland, OR
7/5 – Cosmic Pizza – Eugene, OR
7/8 – Constellation Room – Santa Ana, CA
7/9 – SoHo – Santa Barbara, CA
7/10 – The Independent – San Francisco, CA
7/11 – Harlow’s – Sacramento, CA
7/12 – Slo Brew – San Luis Obispo, CA
7/16 – The Casbah – San Diego, CA
7/17 – The Troubadour – Los Angeles, CA
Find out more here.
