Ryan Adams is back, which, Adams being Adams, means he’s back in abundance. The singer-songwriter and former Whiskeytown frontman just announced one new band, the punk-oriented Pornography, which is prepping a seven-song release for Record Store Day on April 20. Earlier this week at London’s Royal Albert Hall, Adams played with another one, marking his first show with a backing group since 2009.
According to Billboard‘s sources, Adams has a new album on the way, too. Reuniting him with producer Glyn Johns, who has worked with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, the record is described as having “more orchestral flourishes” than 2011’s Ashes & Fire. For what it’s worth, Billboard says “there’s talk” that the album will feature Adams’ five-piece backing hand from the London show, which included seasoned vets like keyboardist Benmonth Tench and bassist Don Was.
Adams also performed two new songs at the London show, “When I Meet You in My Mind” and “In the Shadows.” U.K. tabloid The Mirror reports that the first “wouldn’t have been out of place” on the previous album. “In the Shadows” was reportedly “very different, more uptempo and electric and with a horror movie storyline.” Unfortunately, neither song has emerged online at press time.
What has surfaced, as you can see from the fan footage above, is a one-off goof called “Loaf of Bread.” Inspired, according to The Mirror, when Adams misheard a fan’s request as being that title, the track reinforced just why Adams has been such a steady font of creativity over the years. On the spot, he was able to improvise a complete-sounding song that rhymes “they bit the dust” with “cut off the crust.”
Check out audience videos of other songs from the concert below — Heartbreaker classics “My Winding Wheel” and “Oh My Sweet Carolina,” plus Ashes & Fire‘s “Dirty Rain” — along with a set list compiled by the To Be Young message board. All of this comes after Adams has, in recent months, covered Iron Maiden, contributed an impressive new song to the This Is 40 soundtrack, and gone into the studio with Deadmau5.
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Ryan Adams – 03/19/13 – London, UK @ Royal Albert Hall setlist:
1. “Dirty Rain”
2. “Ashes & Fire”
3. “My Winding Wheel”
4. “Fix It”
5. “Where I Meet You In My Mind” [new song]
6. “Loaf Of Bread” [improv]
7. “Please Do Not Let Me Go”
8. “Why Do They Leave?”
9. “Invisible Riverside”
10. “Let It Ride”
11. “Nobody Girl”
12. “In the Shadows” [new song]
13. “Oh My Sweet Carolina” [solo]
14. “English Girls Approximately” [solo]
15. “Do I Wait?”
16. “I Love You, But I Don’t Know What to Say”
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17. “Dear John”
18. “Come Pick Me Up”
