Photo by: Dan Winters
Official press release:
Maryland rock institution Clutch have announced their fourteenth studio album, Wasted Lands, set for release on January 22, 2027 via the band’s own Weathermaker Music. An extensive variety of pre-order bundles are available now HERE. The announcement arrives alongside the release of its raucously groovy, riff-driven title track, “Wasted Lands,” and accompanying official music video, available to stream HERE and watch below.
Written and recorded at their longtime Frederick, Maryland base, the Doom Saloon, Wasted Lands reunites Clutch with producer Machine for the first time since 2015’s Psychic Warfare. The sheer velocity of their creative collaboration can be felt from the first note of the record and is expertly displayed on the title track, “Wasted Lands”. Neil Fallon’s lyrical knack of conjuring characters from a handful of strange, sharply observed details and dropping them into Clutch songs with their own vibrant and storied mythologies has long been a defining characteristic of the Clutch canon. On “Wasted Lands,” he conjures a creature so malign that H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King are invoked only to make clear that even they could not dream it up. Rumor casts it as a government experiment, a heavenly angel or an omen preparing the ground for the end of days. Nobody knows for certain. The locals call it Neil Patrick Fallon. Sharing some thoughts on the release, Neil Fallon says:
“The inspiration for the lyrics in ‘Wasted Lands’ came about when it was brought to my attention that someone had been dragging my name on FaceBook (weird, right?). Apparently, I had reneged on a free t-shirt and dinner. I think it was a prize in a pay to play contest. Not to overstate the obvious, but it was a load of horse hockey. Many people tried to explain to this person that it was not me and that they had been hustled. But they simply would not believe it. So I thought, screw it, no half-measures. You want a monster? Let’s give you one.”
Beneath Fallon’s lyrical story-craft, Jean-Paul Gaster, Dan Maines and Tim Sult lock into a classic-Clutch, riff-driven groove featuring a very intentional and strategically placed bass-drum hit from Gaster. One he knew would make the live crowd go wild. He shares:
“There’s a part where Neil says, ‘Vegetable, mineral, man, or beast.’ And I put a bass drum on, ‘man or beast,’ and Machine thought that was kind of weird. He was like, ‘Man, you’re covering up the vocal!’ And I said, ‘No, that bass drum is gonna make the crowd go nuts, I guarantee it.’ And it does, because there’s nothing more exciting than having a big bass drum slam through a PA, and Neil singing a vocal on top of it. I mean, I get goosebumps from that, you know?”
Across Wasted Lands, Clutch keep their riff-heavy foundations intact while making room for a sharper melodic streak. Tracks including “Colorado Fuel and Iron”, “Stage Fright”, and “Loaf and Jug” build their considerable weight around chord progressions as much as individual riffs. “Beware the Fever” brings banjo onto a Clutch record for the first time, using a rough demo played by Fallon and recorded by Gaster during a writing session. Despite several attempts to re-record the performance, nothing quite came close so the original recording is what went on the record.
Fallon’s lyrics open in the rubble of the Georgia Guidestones on “The Drifter Returns” and close beneath an exploding star on “The Message is Clear”. The route between them runs through Colorado’s Highway 50, abandoned company towns, corporate appetites, creature-feature horror and deep space.
Speaking on the announcement of their fourteenth studio album, Clutch share:
“Exploded monuments, haunted coal towns, robber barons, time cops, a chestburster, fifteen tons of antimatter and a creature called Neil Patrick Fallon. Wasted Lands came from one clear intention: write a great rock record that will make fans go nuts when they hear these songs live, while leaving enough space in the creative process to follow the unexpected turns that keep Clutch exciting to us and our fans after thirty-five years together.”
Wasted Lands track listing:
- “The Drifter Returns”
- “Stage Fright”
- “Loaf ‘N Jug”
- “High Class Action Lawsuit”
- “Chestburster”
- “Beware The Fever”
- “Wound Collector”
- “Colorado Fuel and Iron”
- “Streets Are His”
- “The Green Skull”
- “Wasted Lands”
- “The Message Is Clear”
Clutch have assembled an extensive variety of physical pre-order items. The standard black vinyl edition, cassette and standard CD will be available everywhere, alongside the following exclusive editions:
- Red vinyl, exclusive to clutchmerch.com
- Red CD, exclusive to clutchmerch.com
- Yellow Smoke vinyl, exclusive to US independent retail
- Green Smoke vinyl, exclusive to Amazon.com
- Sea Blue Smoke vinyl, exclusive to TalkShopLive
- Blue vinyl, available internationally through HMV in the UK, JBL in Germany, FNAC in France and JB in Australia
Wasted Lands will be released worldwide on January 22, 2027 via Weathermaker Music. To pre-order the album and see all music and apparel products available in the US and additional territories, go to clutchmerch.com.