After releasing his second album, the aptly titled Encore, earlier this year, Anderson East returns to Manchester for a gig at Night and Day next week.
Encore arrived two and a half years after his breakout debut album, 2015’s Delilah. It was a period where the gritty-blue-and-soul singer spent pounding the pavement and plotting his next album. The album’s title is derived from East’s steadfast belief that every song on his new 11-track album must be worth of closing out one of his live shows.
Drawing on country-blues, soul, pop and balladry, Encore sees Anderson East pushing his boundaries further. “It was very much about trying to feel live and loose” he explains of the writing and recording. The album came from recording sessions at Nashville’s history RCA Studio A with longtime producer Dave Cobb.
East collaborated with a number of world-renowned artists on the album, working alongside Chris and Margane Stepleton on King For A Day (a song written in 20 minutes post-show in Chris Stepleton’s dressing room), Ed Sheeran on All On My Mind, Avicii (Girlfriend) and Natalie Hemby on This Too Shall Last which also features Ryan Adams on guitar. “You want to hang out with people who have great stories” he explains about collaborating with them.
East estimates he wrote 50 songs for Encore, most of which started out as brief snippets on a voice recorder app. And he bounced these off Cobb, who is describes as “incredibly vital” in determining whether he should cut a particular tune. “We just have this level of trust and comfort with each other” he says of the Grammy-winning producer, “We ultimately want the best for each other and we want the best for the song. We’re able to butt heads and get pissy at one another and then finally have worked really hard to get to a place that feels natural.”
When does Anderson East perform at Night and Day?
Anderson East’s Manchester gig at Night and Day is on 29 May 2018.
