With the release of their fourth studio album and a successful tour still visible in the rearview, Judah & the Lion's Brian Macdonald and Judah Akers joined Audacy host Brady at the Hard Rock Hotel in New York City along with a group of fans to discuss their 2022 album, Revival, and their return after a "transitional time."
LISTEN NOW: Judah & the Lion talk 'Revival' and their return
Judah & the Lion are currently winding down their 2022 Happy Again Tour in support of their fourth studio album, this summer's Revival. After ten years together and a close to three-year break that ultimately witnessed the departure of banjo player Nate Zuercher in December of 2021, Brian admits "it was definitely a transitional time period for us as a band... With us making this new album, instead of three of us, it was just the two of us kind of re-learning how we work creatively together and re-inventing how that is gonna look moving forward. But it was a sweet process and we're really proud of it and happy... even though it took way more time than other records."
Judah says their new process "ebbs and flows, just like with anything. For the song 'Be Here Now,' which is on the record, I was just by myself on the ocean with my guitar, but then there's other times when you're by the computer and come up with a beat that you're inspired by. We try to be writers that allow it to come when it comes. Obviously, our music is pretty personal," he adds, "so we're trying to write about things we're going through and you have to actually live life a bit. That's why this one took a little bit to write and really understand."
Following up their previous release Pep Talks, which focused on Judah's parents going through a rough patch and the effects it had on him and his siblings -- 2022's Revival, Judah says for lack of a better term is their "pandemic record," where he and Brian learned a lot about each other after their hectic touring schedule was ripped from under them. "We weren't really living a normal life... a lot of our friends, and me and Brian individually, went through a whole lot of growth in the midst of that. In a lot of ways we're really grateful for the break... in a lot of ways it was hard."
Optimism that may not be fully based in reality, Judah says, is a mindset that he's become accustomed to from some friends and family -- but that optimism was something that is still tangible to him even after tragedy upon tragedy unfolded over the course of the pandemic. "I had many friends go through rehab after rehab... whether it be for chronic depression or addiction; friends commit suicide, relatives, the whole gamut. We wanted to hit on those things, and figure out, the realities of life are really hard," Judah says.
"There's a certain point of our life -- for some people it happens really young; for me, it probably happened in my teens or early twenties -- your innocence in some ways gets robbed of you in life, whether young or old," he explains. "We wanted this record to be about grabbing that second innocence. Second innocence to me is more powerful than the first innocence because first innocence is given to you, or it should be given to you, but second innocence is chosen. It's looking out at the weather... and saying 'hey, it's really s***ty out there, but we're going anyway.'"
WATCH NOW: Judah & the Lion talk 'Revival' and their return
Check out our full chat with Judah & the Lion above, and stay tuned for more conversations with your favorite artists right here on Audacy.
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