What’s that old saying, patience is a virtue? That was something that certainly tested AWOLNATION’s Aaron Bruno when it came to making his covers album My Echo, My Shadow, My Covers and Me. On May 6th, he’ll finally have the chance to share it with the world.
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The AWOLNATION frontman joined Audacy’s Julia and spoke about the process of making the record. “I’m just happy it’s starting now because I’ve been sitting on this for longer than I would like to sit on it,” he said.
Bruno noted a particular challenge that came with making a covers album. Getting the original songwriters blessing to release it. That part took time to come together, but Bruno notes that it gave him some time to finish the new AWOLNATION album.
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The inspiration for the album’s title - My Echo, My Shadow, My Covers and Me - came from early on in the pandemic when everyone was quarantined and Bruno was unable to collaborate with other musicians as he might have normally done.
“It felt appropriate because at the time, none of us saw anyone,” he said. “This was a way for me with today’s technology to not feel as alone and feel as if I was doing something with the community even though I was alone… With My Echo, My Shadow,” he added with a laugh. “I was able to reach out to other artists and kind of hang out with them and feel normal for a second.”
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Bruno had to recruit a lot of musicians in order to be a part of this effort. While it may seem like a tall task, he feels fortunate he didn’t run into any issues. “Weirdly everybody just said yes to my crazy ideas and jumped on the ship and we just rode off into the sunset. I usually did all the busy work, mapped out the song, got it somewhat sounding like me production wise.”
Bruno said he “wanted to make it as easy as possible on each singer,” which included singing certain parts to give them an idea of what he was looking for. “Everybody was pretty cool, it was easy,” he said.
“It’s a lighthearted project. Hopefully it introduces some people to some of these songs that have been written by great artists.”
My Echo, My Shadow, My Covers and Me Tracklist
1. Beds are Burning (featuring Tim McIlrath of Rise Against)
2. Eye in the Sky (featuring Beck)
3. Take a Chance on Me (featuring Jewel)
4. Maniac (featuring Conor Mason of Nothing But Thieves)
5. Just a Friend (featuring Hyro The Hero)
6. Material Girl (featuring Taylor Hanson of Hanson)
7. Wind of Change (featuring Brandon Boyd of Incubus & Portugal The Man)
8. Waiting Room (featuring Grouplove)
9. Drive (on digital only)
10. Flagpole Sitta (featuring Elohim)
11. Alone Again (featuring Midland)
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