Boulder's Drunken Hearts sharpens sound, drops rootiest, tootiest summer album
Jun. 29—There's a gravelly sense of familiarity to Andrew McConathy's voice, the lead singer of the Boulder-based roots band Drunken Hearts. Even through a pair of headphones, the frontman and principal songwriter's voice sounds like a pair of worn-in jeans for your eardrums — a sound that, after years of perfecting, McConathy has finally nailed down.
With four albums under his belt, McConathy is by no means a veteran to singing and songwriting, however, with his fifth and latest album, "Reckless Ways of Living," which was released on June 2, it's clear that McConathy has hit his stride as a musician.
"Reckless Ways of Living" reflects a more sophisticated sound for Drunken Hearts, and serves as a sonic journey for listeners to gain a deeper understanding of the direction McConathy is heading with his music.
While Drunken Hearts was once a five-piece band comprised of several semi-permanent members, after COVID-19, McConathy found himself without a tether: His band had essentially dissolved as they all either moved away, or moved on. Now, operating as a one-man band, McConathy enlists guest players on the road, or in the studio, as needed.
We caught up with McConathy in the post-album release afterglow to talk about the subtle, yet symbolic name change of the band, his musical inspirations and aspirations, and what a "reckless way of living" truly is.
Q: This album is called "Reckless Ways of Living." Where did this title come from?
A: During the pandemic, I was kind of left questioning whether or not music was what I wanted to do with my life, and what direction I wanted to go in. This album refers to kind of rolling the dice a little bit. I think "reckless living" is more of a play on words on the entire process itself.
Q: How has your sound evolved with this album, in particular?
A: I think that overall this album stands out to me as kind of like the most natural sound of the band. When I think about what Drunken Hearts sound like, I think of this record.
Pre-pandemic, watching us play together, it was like watching a trainwreck. We were having a lot of fun, but we were out there mainly having a good time and music was our job second. Now, it's a bit more put together. And you can hear that in the music. It's not quite as reckless as it once was.
Q: You recently went from The Drunken Hearts to Drunken Hearts. Why the dropping of the article, and was this name change symbolic? Did this have anything to do with your former band splitting?
A: When I put out our last album, the world had been shut down for a while, my guitar player had been gone for a year, the bass player was about to get married and move, and, you know, it was something that needed to happen. So I suppose the name change was symbolic, but also something that I had been wanting to do for a long time because Drunken Hearts is meant to be more of an adjective as opposed to a noun.
It's not about alcohol, or getting drunk — it's about a spiritual state of being. You don't necessarily have to be drunk on alcohol — you can be drunk on love, drunk on music, drunk on lots of things.
Q: You mentioned before that growing up, music was never what you thought you'd end up doing. Now you're the lead singer in a band. How did you discover you have such a singular voice?
A: I guess it was more when I realized I could play the guitar and, I wouldn't call it singing, but rather yell at the same time. That was probably in like 2007, and then over time, that has evolved. I started taking lessons and my coach told me, "Your voice is your voice. I'm not going to tell you how to do that, that's something that you have to develop on your own."
When I go back and listen to some early recordings, I don't love my singing on any of them. But I think singing is something that has to be very intentional and I've been trying to put as much intention into it as possible. It's developed a lot more now, by trying to sound like me and only me when I sing.
Q: What kind of music influenced this record, and what artists are you listening to these days?
A: I listen to a lot of singer-songwriters, outlaw country and alt-country music. Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell, Sierra Ferrell, I love Brandi Carlile...I guess it's hard to put my finger on it because I still kind of have my own way of doing things, musically speaking.
So I tried to branch out, I love Pearl Jam, and my wife loves My Morning Jacket so we listen to a lot of that. It's a lot of different influences, while at the same time, trying to find my own sound, too.
Q: Which song do you think people should listen to first on the album?
A: I definitely think that "The Bright" is really cool. I wrote that for my grandfather from Louisiana, he passed away from COVID in February of last year. My parents and my whole family love that one. I also really like "Falling Stars." It's kind of autobiographical about my wife and I. I love "Forever Highway," too. Honestly, it's hard for me to pick. I love all of them.
To check out Drunken Hearts, and catch them at a live show, visit thedrunkenhearts.com.
