originally published: 09/26/2023
Photo by Chloe Horseman
The New York-based artist The Bones of J.R. Jones has released “Animals,” the final pre-release single from Slow Lightning, his first studio album in more than 5 years that will be released on October 13 via Tone Tree Music. On October 12, he will kick off the second leg of his US album release tour in Washington, D.C. followed by a hometown album release show at Mercury Lounge in New York on October 13.
Find a full list of tour dates below or visit his website. Slow Lightning is now available for pre-order on pink vinyl.
About the new song, Jonathon Linaberry (best known by his stage name The Bones of J.R. Jones) explains: "'Animals' is about letting yourself go and giving into another version of yourself. Going out, getting into trouble, letting whatever may happen, happen and finding out you're happier that way."
“Animals” follows the release of the album’s radio single “The Good Life,” which was released last month alongside a moving official video starring actress Maggie McDowell. Atwood Magazine proclaimed, “‘The Good Life’ radiates with smoldering folk rock passion and perseverance as The Bones of J.R. Jones echoes our endless individual pursuit in song.” The album’s propulsive debut single “Heaven Help Me” was praised by Magnet Magazine and has already been streamed more than 250,000 times.
As the title suggests, the 12-track collection Slow Lightning is raw and visceral, pulsating with an understated electrical current that flows through his cinematic brand of roots noir. The songs grapple with doubt and desire in the face of nature and fate, and frequent collaborator Kiyoshi Matsuyama’s production is eerily hypnotic to match, with haunting synthesizers, vintage drum machines, and ghostly guitars.
“I felt very lost at the time I was writing these songs,” Linaberry confesses. “It was a moment of deep crisis and anxiety, but I knew the only way out was through, which meant I just had to bring myself to the table every day and put in the work.”
The Bones of J.R. Jones is a New York-based songwriter, storyteller, visual artist and “one man band who can hold an audience rapt, rendering the cacophony of a stage full of musicians utterly unnecessary” (Noisey). His 2021 EP, A Celebration, was praised by American Songwriter, Under The Radar and Atwood Magazine, who called it “an intimate, visceral outpouring of vulnerability, reflection, connection, and wonder.”
Slow Lightning tracklist:
1) Animals
2) Slow Lightning
3) The Good Life
4) Blue Skies
5) Preservation
6) The Flood
7) Heaven Help Me
8) I Ain’t Through With You
9) Love Is A Sickness
10) I’ll See You In Hell
11) Salt Sour Sweet
12) Baby Run
Tour Dates:
10/12 – Washington, DC – DC9
10/13 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge
10/14 – Woodstock, NY – Levon Helm Studios
10/16 – Richmond, VA – Camel
10/17 – Charlottesville, VA – The Southern Cafe and Music Hall
10/18 – Raleigh, NC – The Pour House Music Hall & Record Shop
10/19 – Charlotte, NC – Evening Muse
10/20 – Decatur, GA – Eddie's Attic
10/21 – Nashville, TN – The Basement
11/8 – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso
11/9 – Luxembourg, LUX – Gudde Wellen
11/10 – Paris, FR – No.Pi
11/11 – London, UK – Omeara
11/14 – Cologne, DE – Jaki
11/15 – Hamburg, DE – Uebel & Gefährlich
11/16 – Berlin, DE – Kantine Berghain
11/17 – Leipzig, DE – Naumanns
11/18 –Frankfurt, DE – Brotfabrik
COLUMNS
Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...12/18/25
"Lord have mercy; the short of it is, I originally come from Wichita, Kansas of all places," laughed Glenn Alexander. "I've been back here in the New York City/New Jersey area for a long time. I have a lot of albums out from my early life, then I took some years off and now I'm back at it; I've spent the last 17 years of my life touring with Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes and prior to that, just playing with a long list of folks who are all listed on my website and then, I have this band. They are the horn players from the Asbury Jukes, we've been together nine or ten years. Wow, I've thought about that, we've been together nine or ten years and in '26 I think it will be 10 years because our first album came out in 2016 or somewhere around there. So, yeah, I love that band, it's a great band and those horn players are world class, they've toured and worked with everybody. I'm just excited as heck because JB and I are good friends and I love what he does and his album is killin'. I love that he and I got our heads together on this, it's gonna be a fantastic night of music, I can tell you that."
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