Durand Jones Announces ‘Deeply Personal’ Debut Solo Album

Durand Jones is stepping away from The Indications for his debut solo album. Jones – the lead singer of soul outfit Durand Jones and The Indications – will release new album Wait Til I Get Over on May 5 via Dead Oceans.

The solo debut will see the Southern singer take a break from his highly collaborative group to create a deeply personal collection of songs. Wait Til I Get Over is a reflection on Jones’ relationship to his hometown of Hillaryville, La., a town first established as a form of reparations to previously enslaved Black Americans. The album grapples with his desire to leave the complicated town and his urge to honor his roots.

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The collection features Jones’ striking vocals bolstered by his background with church music, R&B, rock and folk. It’s an eclectic collection of tracks exploring worth and belief through love, longing, odes and prayers.

The album’s first single, “Lord Have Mercy” is out Wednesday (Feb. 22), along with video directed by Will Niava. The video cuts back and forth between footage of the rural swamps of Louisiana from present day and from the 1920s, capturing the generational struggle of the people of Hillaryville from Jones’ time and from that of his grandmother’s.

“The interlude ends with my grandmother telling us how she felt about Hillaryville back in the day. Hillaryville is no longer a sanctuary town or ‘place you’d most want to live’. Most people in my generation and younger dream of escaping a place like Hillaryville. And for many, the dream never becomes something more,” Jones said in a release. “Life can find a way to keep you there if you will let it. I wanted to express this thought through sound in a raw, wild and raucous way. A build of a groove that feels like it is driving through a muddy swamp. Trapped.”

Jones will take the solo record on the road this spring with dates across the U.S. The tour will launch on April 27 in Bloomington, Ind., and work its way through New Orleans, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles before closing out at California’s Mill Valley Music Festival on May 14.

To see the full list of tour dates below and head to his website for album details.

  • April 27, 2023 – Bloomington, IN – The Bluebird

  • May 4, 2023 – New Orleans, LA – New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

  • May 6, 2023 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom

  • Tuesday, May 9, 2023 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall

  • Thursday, May 11, 2023 – Los Angeles, CA – Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever

  • Sunday, May 14, 2023 – Mill Valley, CA – Mill Valley Music Festival

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