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But Tony was like, “I don’t know if I want to use this.” He was on the fence about it and I just remember being like, “No this is really good, we should use it for sure.” And I think it’s ended up being one of our favourite songs. That guitar intro is a pretty simple part ultimately, but the harmonies make it, and the tension against it makes it a lot more interesting. HT: That was one of the first demos Tony had for the new record. The song Real Long Time is very melodic and has a memorable riff. For the producer, Jay, and the engineer, Jason, it was their mission to make each song feel like a different scene. They get to hear different kinds of things rather than the same styles of a song 10 or 12 times. I think that on the second record, we tried to put a little more emphasis on variety and that makes for a better experience for people who listen to the record. On the first full-length record we put out, White Reaper Does It Again, all of the songs have a similar vibe. TE: It was a hundred percent a goal of ours to make sure that each song had its own unique feel. Was that a goal for the band and how much input did your producer Jay Joyce have? It was a good lesson in not wringing the magic out of a take.Īll the songs are pretty diverse, sound-wise. It’s not super sterile and boring, and we played as tight as possible. There’s something about the album that feels loose and lived in. We got in the studio and Jay was like, “I just want to keep this as raw as possible.” It really came out with a lot of energy because he knew what he was doing – getting the magic of the first couple takes. We had two records before Hunter joined, so a lot of the stuff in the live set is kind of reverse engineering of who’s going to take what part, and adding some harmonies into the old stuff. I just ‘cut him loose’ on some riffs (laughs) so I could focus on singing. I let Hunter tackle a lot of the lead stuff. Tony Esposito: The way we delegated parts was a lot more intentional on this record. We know what we want it to sound like: a very direct and concise a part as we can make it, which lends itself to harmonies because they are so premeditated. There’s not a lot of messing around or freestyling. We both have really focused approaches to writing parts.

Then we’d fill in the gaps and choose which harmonies we wanted, and finessed and polished them a bit.

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On the other records, Tony did it all by himself and so on this one he was pretty open to giving me free rein: “Take this solo, take that solo.” But in terms of harmonies, Tony wrote a lot of the main ideas of songs. Hunter Thompson: Yeah, we both do a lot of lead work. How do you approach guitar duties in the band, especially when it comes to creating twin harmonies? Do you both alternate on lead? To get a better idea of how White Reaper made You Deserve Love, we sat down with Thompson as well as guitarist and lead songwriter Tony Esposito to talk influences, creative processes, and as always, gear.

The LP is also a milestone in other ways: it’s the band’s debut on major label Elektra Records, and the first White Reaper album recorded with guitarist Hunter Thompson, the band’s newest member. You Deserve Love is the band’s third studio album and with it, the Louisville, Kentucky rockers have transcended their early garage-band sound, progressing into rich, textural arena rock. Featuring their signature duelling-guitar leads, bright keyboards and thumping basslines, the new record – like most of their previous releases – is fun as hell.Ĭhannelling Thin Lizzy, Def Leppard, and the Beach Boys, White Reaper’s new offering wouldn’t have been out of place on the charts 40 years ago. Self-proclaimed “World’s Best American Band” White Reaper are back today with a new album, You Deserve Love.

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