Putting some meat on the bones of last week’s passing reference to a new album when announcing their upcoming live dates, we can now reveal that the new album by The Jayhawks is called Sanctuary Park and it’s due to be released on the 28th of August, with the lead single Keeping Our Heads Above Water being released today. While the album title references an actual location in Dundas, Ontario, Sanctuary Park in the band’s vision is also being used as a fictional place where distant memories re-emerge, childhood friends from years prior start speaking again, and teenage lovers start lives that their older selves are determined to renew.
This project has seen the band reunited with the legendary Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel, Alice Cooper, Lou Reed), who produced their 2000 album Smile, a “classic,” according to The New York Times and many around AUK Towers. When he heard Louris was seeking a producer, Ezrin immediately signed on and invited the band to his hometown of Toronto to record. “I love their music,” says Ezrin. “There is gentleness and a sweetness to their sound, and I found myself craving a little bit more of that.“
The album seems to have a definite sense of place. Not only was it recorded in Canada with a Canadian producer and Canadian engineers in a Canadian studio, but lyrically, there are numerous references specific to Canada. After marrying his wife Stephanie, a born and bred proud Canadian, Louris became a permanent resident, giving him a somewhat unique view and perspective that has contributed to the content of these songs. Ironically, although the band has always had the tag of a true “American” band, in truth, there has always been something truly Canadian about their sound.
A conscious decision was made to highlight the strengths of the band – Louris’s songwriting, the band’s trademarked three-part harmonies, and the intuitive interplay between Louris, keyboard player Karen Grotberg, drummer Tim O’Reagan, and bassist Marc Perlman. “Get us in a room together, and there’s no one better; we have a certain musical magic that happens without even a word or a discussion. Playing live in the studio made this record what it is… a time, a place, music of the moment. Real people making real music,” says Louris
Bassist and band co-founder Marc Perlman says he is “exceptionally proud that The Jayhawks never settled, musically. We never shortchanged the songs. We didn’t put out music that didn’t live up to certain standards,” he says. Also key to the band’s longevity, adds Perlman, are the diverse musical strains – country, soul, electronic, folk, power-pop, and more – that have run through The Jayhawks’ music over many years. “I always felt we were a musician’s band.”
Sanctuary Park arrives at a momentous time for the band as they celebrate their 40th year – their self-titled first record (known to fans as The Bunkhouse Album) was released in 1986. The band will be touring throughout the world in the fall of 2026 and spring of 2027 to promote the new album. Dates are here
Here’s the single to keep us busy before August.
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