Robert Jon & The Wreck announce new album 'Shine a Light on Me Brother'

Californian southern rockers Robert Jon & The Wreck will release their new studio album ‘Shine a Light on Me Brother’ on Friday 3rd September 2021.

The follow-up to spring 2020’s ‘Last Light On The Highway’, ‘Shine A Light On Me Brother’ was written and recorded during the coronavirus pandemic and it’s self-produced by Robert Jon & The Wreck.

The album features 10 all-new songs, and opener and title track ‘Shine a Light on Me Brother’ will be unveiled to the world on Friday 25th June. Check out a teaser here:

‘Shine a Light on Me Brother’ will be available on CD, Vinyl, limited Deluxe Vinyl (coloured) and in limited edition bundles – including a deluxe bundle including the Signed Deluxe Edition Vinyl, Ltd Edition T shirt, signed CD, Ltd Edition retro California vanity plates, and signed Ltd Edition photos of Robert Jon & The Wreck. Pre-order it here.

Following the release of ‘Shine a Light on Me Brother’, Robert Jon & The Wreck will grace the UK in September 2021 for a headline UK tour.

Featuring special guest Troy Redfern at all dates, tickets are on sale from Planet Rock Tickets right now.

Robert Jon & The Wreck UK tour dates:

SEPTEMBER 2021

Cardiff The Globe - Thu 16th

Sittingbourne The Bourne Music Club – Fri 17th

Chester Live Rooms – Sat 18th

Leeds Brudenell Social Club – Sun 19th

Newcastle The Cluny – Mon 20th

Manchester Night & Day – Tue 21st

Nottingham The Bodega – Wed 22nd

London The 100 Club – Thu 23rd

Edinburgh Voodoo Rooms – Fri 24th

Aberdeen Cafe Drummond – Sat 25th

Hartlepool South Durham Steel Works Club – Sun 26th

Robert Jon & The Wreck – ‘Shine A Light On Me Brother’ track-list:

Eponymous Robert Jon & The Wreck singer Robert Jon Burrison has given us a track-by-track guide to ‘Shine A Light On Me Brother’, which you can read below:

1) Shine A Light On Me Brother

Shine a Light on Me Brother is the title track from our new studio album. It is a hard kick of rock and roll mixed with the gospel roots that the band grew up on. Shine a Light on Me Brother deals with the obstacles, hurdles, and hardships brought on by 2020, while keeping a positive perspective of moving past the pandemic and challenges that all of us in every culture have faced and crying out with hope to be “saved” by the new year. It cries a soulful hope of normalcy that we’ve all been missing for far too long. This song is also the first single from the new album.

2) Everyday

This is an all-out good-time jam track that was born out of frustration due to lack of freedoms that we had grown used to pre-pandemic and were subsequently denied during lockdown. It speaks to the desire to get together with friends, play music, have some beers, and just spend time with each other in person again. This track, as well as Shine a Light on Me Brother, Ain’t No Young Love Song, Chicago, Movin’ and Brother feature additional background vocals from the all-star team from Australia - Mahalia Barnes, Juanita Tippins, and Prinnie Stevens. Together with Henry James’ soaring guitar licks and Andrew Espantman’s undeniable groove, this track is one to be listened to on repeat and sung along to!

3) Ain’t No Young Love Song

This is Robert Jon & The Wreck’s love song anthem for a new age. Inspired by the greats that have preceded RJTW, Ain’t No Young Love Song is a stand up, straightlaced rock song with a sensitive lyrical style about knowing who you want to spend your life with and who you want to fight for. No doubt this track will be on a radio station near you in the very near future.

4) Chicago

Every relationship goes through trial and error; sometimes it works and sometimes the love that you cherish moves halfway across the country. Chicago is a classic song about love and loss, but also sides with the hope that one day both parties with be okay, no matter if separate or together. This song, as well as Shine a Light on Me Brother feature the 504 Horns from New Orleans, LA that provide a beautiful sonic landscape to this beautiful song. The heartache and championing of this lost love is made apparent in the emotional lyrics, at times asking the very city of Chicago itself to “look after her when I’m gone” and to “keep her warm”.

5) Hurricane

Hurricane is an acoustic ballad that deals with the struggle of loving someone who is a beautiful mess. The song asks the question, if the relationship’s timing were different, could it all have worked out with a better outcome?

Good friend of the band and co-writer of Oh Miss Carolina as well as many songs on this album, Ian Cullen was a crucial part of this humbling ballad. The minimal arrangement makes this track stand out as an emotional and integral piece of the sonic tapestry of this album.

6) Desert Sun

Desert Sun is a tune straight out of guitarist Henry James’ songbook. This lyric driven song touches on personal experiences that deal with unrequited love and a lot of uncertainty. Written from a place of uninhibited honesty during an unresolved situation, and eventually realizing that resolution and closure are in fact not commonplace and very rarely guaranteed.

The honesty in Henry’s lyrics also speak to our own faults for not heeding warning signs or recognising patterns from previous experiences. Henry had been playing it acoustically for some time and when the song was presented in the writing room, it was the band’s unanimous decision to include it on the album.

7) Movin’

The song starts off with a guitar-driven riff that provides a foundation for the whole song, with its psychedelic droning presence permeating through the entire track. This song is the hidden gem of this record. Co-writers Nick Foster and Josh Weathers help tell the story of being in a relationship slump, where moving forward is the only viable option. It asks the question, “When we’re are always fighting, how can our love shine through?” It is a simple message brought to light with dazzling guitar lines and a groovin’ chorus that puts you in a trance.

8) Anna Maria

Anna Maria started off as what was thought to be an acoustic track. It found its own path once the band made the decision to plug in and make it more aggressive. This track provides soaring vocals and piano driven lines. It tells the story of a relationship that was doomed for some time, where the offended party offers straightforward, honest, and emotional lyrics defending their position and calls the aggressor out for being “so cruel”.

9) Brother

Brother is a gut-wrenching story of experiences dealing with loved ones exhibiting mental health problems. We all know someone that may be struggling with mental illness. We wanted to shine a light on this topic in an honest yet positive way. This is the true story of someone very close to the band that has been living with this for some time, and we feel that the song, both lyrically and musically, was executed in a beautiful and poignant way, reassuring our loved one that their “muses haven’t given up”.

With the imagery of the lyrical line “The house burns slowly on a Friday night” brought to life by Henry James’ transcendent guitar solo, you can almost palpably feel like you are in that actual burning house. This track is bound to set fire in the hearts of all who can relate.

10. Radio

The last song on this record, Radio, is one that you can just sit back and enjoy. A fun-filled, wild track that on first listen might speak to the listener as a song about a relationship with a crazy person, when in fact it is the story of every young musician’s battle with the music industry. It speaks to the struggle of “Miss Hollywood” consistently swooping in, sucking them in and spitting them out until they’ve had enough, and are relinquished to try and get away from it all. At some point, every road leads back to “Miss Hollywood,” and we couldn’t think of a better way to wrap up the album than with this barn burner of a track that will undoubtedly leave you singing along.

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