"True Black", “a gospel drenched American gothic” new single by Jay Buchanan out today - listen now

Rock Metal Machine
11 hours ago
3 min read

Man in pink suit and hat stands on rocky desert terrain at sunset, with mountains in background. Sky glows with orange and pink hues. — **Photo Credit: Matthew Wignall**

Acclaimed singer, songwriter and musician Jay Buchanan, frontman of the Grammy-nominated rock group Rival Sons, debuts his new gospel-infused song, “True Black,” today. Listen HERE

The track is the latest unveiled from Buchanan’s anticipated debut solo album, Weapons of Beauty, out February 6 on Sacred Tongue Records via Thirty Tigers. The album will be available in a variety of formats, including limited-edition autographed color vinyl and CD, exclusively through Sacred Tongue / Second Sun. Pre-save/pre-order HERE.

“Paint my casket true black, and for all I might have cost you, I hope to earn it back,” Buchanan sings, embracing (in his own words) “a gospel drenched American gothic.” Buchanan’s rust-worn vocals in the opening of True Black welcome the seeker into his big top revival tent, where the atmosphere is equal parts old testament and oldest profession.

”As I walk side by side, With the wicked and the righteous,” Buchanan sings “I do wonder to which one of them, I truly belong.”

The song is a ragged confessional, the singer self-aware and reckoning with the burdens placed on those closest to him. With congregation piano and holy ghost hellfire rhythm, you’re pulled out of your seat to dance with him all the way from perdition to pentecost.

Buchanan comments: “True Black is such a contrast to Caroline, it’s a burner for sure. Time to get up!!”

ABOUT WEAPONS OF BEAUTY

While the album Weapons Of Beauty marks Buchanan’s return to his storyteller roots, his voice remains his signature instrument: powerful, earthen, and expressive, a gritty echo of his native California mountains.

Produced by longtime collaborator and multi-GRAMMY Award-winner Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell) and written in the solitude of an underground bunker deep in the Mojave Desert, Weapons of Beauty is the result of months of reflection and experimentation—an unfiltered 10-song collection that captures Buchanan’s raw vocals and lived-in storytelling.

Cobb shares, “I think this record is like seeing into the heart of Jay, no filter, no noise, just pure raw emotion.”

The first track shared from the album “Caroline” was released Buchanan last year and accompanied by a video filmed down an abandoned gold mine near where Jay wrote the album. Watch the official music video HERE.

“As music continues to be choked out by technology, I wanted to draw pictures in the dirt,” Buchanan reflects. “This approach is right with me and I’ve just come to a point where there is no longer a choice. Weapons Of Beauty is the sound of these plates shifting within me, too loud to ignore. Surprisingly, I’ve never known a vulnerability to feel so empowering.”

The album was recorded at Dave Cobb’s studio in Savannah, Georgia, with a small ensemble of Nashville’s finest — Chris Powell (drums), Leroy Powell (pedal steel guitar), Brian Allen (bass), J.D. Simo (guitar), and Philip Towns (keys). Buchanan also enlisted longtime friend and acclaimed American realist painter Jeremy Lipking to create the album’s striking cover, a romantic counterpart to the music’s love of the American landscape. Visionary film maker Scott Cooper (who directed Buchanan in Deliver Me From Nowhere, the recent Springsteen biopic movie) thoughtfully sequenced the record, deftly weaving its songs into a narrative arc that plays like a film.

“If my version of God were the craft itself,” Buchanan reflects, “then this album might be my prayer.”

With Weapons of Beauty, Jay Buchanan delivers not just a solo debut, but a revelation — a shimmering, soul-worn testament to a life dedicated to song.