Rival Sons announced release of remastered seminal album ‘Head Down’

Double Grammy-nominated band Rival Sons will release a remastered version of their 2012 album Head Down on their own label Sacred Tongue Records, May 24th, 2024

The critically acclaimed third full-length album was widely celebrated as a game-changer for the band garnering accolades from across the globe.

The Guardian (4/5) “Rival Sons are doggedly establishing themselves as a vital force for the modern age…vocalist Jay Buchanan is a revelation: cocksure and sassy… if you thrilled to the Black Key’s El Camino, it’s time to meet your new favourite band.”

Kerrang!! (4/5) “Howling blues rock meets psychedelic pop perfection”.

MOJO (4/5) “Head Down sounds highly charged and fresh, likely to delight fans of Queens Of The Stone Age and Humble Pie in equal measure”.

BBC “Fizzing with freshness, Head Down honours half a century of classic rock with reverence, respect and the realisation that this music’s still happening, right now.”

Head Down, includes the hit single and fan favourite Keep On Swinging, plus poppy retro dance numbers “Until The Sun Comes” and “Wild Animal.” An album that showcases the versatility of Rival Sons, Head Down also includes the classic ballad of death and loss “Jordan” and Manifest Destiny Parts 1 & 2, an epic stonking room shaker of betrayal and revenge of the Native American People.

Jay Buchanan comments “This record… wow. Head Down was the introduction of a more cinematic, wider-lensed Rival Sons. It’s a summer record made in the dead of a cold, cold winter. Listening to the remaster I can hear the origin story of everything that followed.”

Scott Holiday continues “When we recorded Head Down we never even went home from touring. We drove the van right to Nashville and wrote and recorded the whole record inside of a month.” The band then had just a couple of weeks at home before they were back out on the road again in Europe. Scott remembers “We would receive mixes from Vance (Powell) for approval on the road, it was a very busy and creative time for the band. A bit of a runaway. We were having a lot of fun and playing well together, which allowed us to really push the boundaries with Head Down. We covered a lot of musical ground on this album. A large step forward from the simpler arrangements on Pressure and Time.”

The remastered version includes a Kingsnake Colour vinyl available at retail outlets and a limited edition Rosefinch colour vinyl exclusive to Rival Son’s webstore. The first 1000 vinyl copies ordered from Rivalsonsmerch.com will come with a hand-signed lyric sheet of either “Jordan”, “Manifest Destiny”, “Keep On Swinging” or “Run From Revelation”.   

Scott states, “We are really pleased to offer our re-mastered 10-year anniversary of Head Down. We have some limited custom coloured vinyl, a slight tweak on the artwork and maybe even a couple other little surprises inside. Enjoy Head Down again”

Rival Sons launched their own record label Sacred Tongue Recordings in February 2021 to house the back catalogue of albums originally released on Earache Records that they are regaining the master rights to. Distributed through Thirty Tigers the label has reissued their independent full-length debut LP, “Before The Fire” (originally released 2009), self-titled EP “Rival Sons” (originally released 2010), their break-through album “Pressure and Time” (originally released 2011), and now Head Down (originally released 2012), will come out May 2024. Rival Sons: “We had talked about creating our own record label from the very beginning. It’s about creating a good home for our back catalogue as the RIVAL SONS community continues to grow together worldwide. The band has always maintained a stance of independence and sole custody of our early works was the long game.”

For more information and to pre-order your copy go to https://orcd.co/headdown 

Head Down track listing:

  1. Keep On Swinging
  2. Wild Animal
  3. You Want To
  4. Until The Sun Comes
  5. Run From Revelation
  6. Jordan
  7. All The Way
  8. The Heist
  9. Three Fingers
  10. Nava
  11. Manifest Destiny Part 1
  12. Manifest Destiny Part 2
  13. True

Catch Rival Sons on the road this summer. The band will play the following shows:

RIVAL SONS SUMMER 2024 TOUR DATES

Weds 5th June: SWEDEN, Solvesborg, Sweden Rock Festival    

Thurs 6th June: NORWAY, Trondheim, Trondheim Rocks

Sun 9th June: UK, Oxford O2 Academy

Mon 10th June: UK, Northampton Roadmender

Thurs 13th June: SPAIN, Madrid, La Riviera

Fri 14th June: SPAIN, Burgos, Anden 56

Sat 15th June: PORTUGAL, Lisbon Rock in Rio

Mon 17th June: SPAIN, Barcelona, Sala Apollo

Tues 18th June: FRANCE, Clermont-Ferrand, Co-Operative de Mai

Weds 19th June: GERMANY, Hannover, Capital

Fri 21st June: DENMARK, Copenhagen, Copenhell Festival

Sun 23rd June: BELGIUM, Dessel, Graspop

Weds 26th June LUXEMBOURG, Den Atelier

Thurs 27th June FRANCE, Strasbourg, La Laiterie

Fri 28th June SWITZERLAND, Pratteln, Konzerfabrik Z7

Sun 30th June FRANCE, Clisson, Hellfest

Mon 1st July SWITZERLAND, Rubigen, Muhle Hunziken

Thurs 4th July FRANCE, Rouen, Le 106

Fri 5th July FRANCE, Cognac, Cognac Blues Passion

Sun 7th July ITALY, Ferrara, Ferrara Comfort Festival

Mon 8th July ITALY, Pordenone, Pordenone Blues Festival 

Tues 9th July GERMANY, Lindau, Club Vaudeville

Thurs 11th July UK, London, Wembley Arena (special guests to ZZ Top)

Sat 13th July FRANCE, Carhaix-Plouger, Vieilles Charrues

Sun 14th July NETHERLANDS, Weert, Bospop

Tues 16th July, NETHERLANDS, Hengelo, Metropool

Weds 17th July, GERMANY, Bonn, Kustrasen

Fri 19th July, FRANCE, Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, Guitare En Seine (w/ Larkin Poe)

Sat 20th July, GERMANY, Winterbach, Zeltspektakel (w/ Larkin Poe)

For ticket links and info go to www.rivalsons.com

About Alex English