Het album bevat features van leden van de ToTo familie uit het verleden en het heden, waaronder
David Paich, Joseph Williams, Simon Phillips, Shannon Forrest, Lee Sklar en Steve MaggioraSteve Lukather heeft de release aangekondigd van zijn nieuwe studio album “Bridges”. Het album komt uit op 16 juni via The Players Club/Mascot Label Group. Vandaag deelt Luke ook meteen de lead track “When I See You Again.”
Zijn negende studio album “Bridges” kan geen passendere titel dragen. Luke deelt, “I see it as a bridge between my solo music and ToTo Music. The fact that Joseph Williams, David Paich and I wrote most of the record, and the fact I invited many of the old ToTo gang to come and play, co-writers like Randy Goodrum and Stan Lynch brings all this together. It also proves that most of my old pals and I are still great friends, and I wanted to do a record ‘in the style of,’ as ToTo will never record another studio album. This is as close as we will get.” Hij vervolgt, “We still love writing and creating and recording together, and we will no doubt continue to work with each other on our respective solo works. It’s complicated, and at the age I am now, I do NOT wish to do anything complicated.”
De track “Far From Over” heeft Luke samen met zijn oudste zoon Trevor geschreven. Luke denkt terug aan toen Trev werd geboren, “It’s funny…when he was born 35 years ago, I looked into his eyes before I cut the cord and said to myself, ‘I wonder IF he will follow in my footsteps?’ He sure did! It is a joy beyond belief cause he really is f*cking good! I wish I could say I taught him everything but I didn’t. He is the only one of my four kids that has gotten into music (so far), and made it his life. He has a natural gift that one can’t learn. I could not be prouder than I am.”
Gedurende Luke’s carrière hebben zowel Stan Lynch als Randy Goodrum regelmatig samen met hem geschreven, zo ook voor “Bridges”. Lynch schreef meerdere songs samen met Lukather / Paich / Williams, en Goodrum en Luke schreven samen aan “All Forevers Must End.” Luke legt uit, “These guys are the guys that come in and write the lyrics way better than me. I knew they would bring it as always and they did. They are also dear friends as well, and we love working together. I do have input to the lyrics. I give them ideas of what I wanna say and they articulate my feelings into the music, and then perhaps once I see their first drafts we talk about it, edit here and there, and the end result is what we have on this record.”
Leden uit het verleden en heden van ToTo dragen bij aan zowel de schrijf- als uitvoeringskant. Joseph Williams heeft meegeschreven aan zes van de tracks, en David Paich aan vier. Williams is te horen op alle tracks van het album en draagt bij met achtergrondzang, synths en percussie of toetsen. Paich speelt keyboard op vijf van de songs. Drummer Simon Phillips is te horen op “Far From Over,” “Not My Kind Of People,” “When I See You Again,” en “Burning Bridges”, terwijl Shannon Forest terugkeerde voor “Someone,” “All Forevers Must End,” “Take My Love” en “I’ll Never Know.” Zowel oude vriend en voormalig lid Lee Sklar en Gov’t Mule bassist Jorgen Carlsson spelen bas op een aantal van de tracks. Op “Far From Over” speelt Trev Lukather gitaar, bas en synths. De huidige ToTo-toetsenist Steve Maggiora schreef mee aan “Take My Love” en speelt toetsen op de track. Luke deelt, “Some people think cause someone has left the band or moved on to their own thing that we stopped being friends or stopped wanting to work together. I think this proves that is not the case, and I wanted to make music with my old friends, alongside having a laugh or two. It was a lot of fun and it also has a sound that is familiar.”
Lukather, David Paich en Joseph Williams zijn tot op de dag van vandaag nauw met elkaar verbonden. Hoewel Paich niet meer op tour gaat met de band, is hij nog steeds de muzikale leider. Williams en Lukather vormen the Dogs of Oz, en blijven samen de band vertegenwoordigen. Luke deelt, “I have been working with both these guys since I was a kid. I revere their talent, and wanted to take pressure off myself. Joe produced the record so I could just be an artist. Paich is the guy that not only taught me how to make records, but he was the one that encouraged my songwriting in ToTo, and really pushed me in every musical sense. And, I love these guys and it is so easy. We all like the same stuff and have worked together for most of our lives. It was like going back to summer camp with my best pals!” Hij vervolgt, “Joe is a remarkable Producer and songwriter as is Dave so…I was able to relax and enjoy the process. Hence it may have a ‘familiar’ sound or style when this is all mixed together. Not intentionally…it’s just what happens when we create together.”
Track listing:
01 Far From Over
02 Not My Kind Of People
03 Someone
04 All Forevers Must End
05 When I See You Again
06 Take My Love
07 Burning Bridges
08 I’ll Never Know
Release: 16 juni 2023
Via: The Players Club / Mascot Label Group
