Tumbleweed Wanderers – ‘Realize’ (album stream) (Premiere)

In January of 2014, the Oakland-based rockers known as the Tumbleweed Wanderers took to a mansion-turned-home studio to produce what is now called Realize, their latest record. Opening with an invigorating number called “Bad Blood” (between this, Bastille, and Taylor Swift, that title is all the rage as of late), Tumbleweed Wanderers conjure up a dusky, Americana-tinged landscape, captured most distinctly on banjo-led closer “Real Eyes” and the tumbleweed pitter-patter of the snare drum on “Bag of Bones”. The Bay Area may be this band’s home, but their music brings the murky air and scorching heat of California’s Central Valley to mind. Of course, fine music knows no geographical limits, and Realize is no exception.

Band member Jeremy Lyon says to PopMatters of the album, “With Realize, we were given the opportunity to make the album of our dreams in a studio and lifestyle that now seem like a fantasy. All we could do was work as hard as we could at making the best possible album, not knowing if and when we would be afforded this chance again. Cinematic, dynamic, and textured, Realize is the culmination of our collective musical vision: a rock ‘n’ roll journey steeped in Americana with psychedelic twists at every turn.”

Realize is out on 9 June.