The War on Drugs remotely joined The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Friday night in honor of their recently-released live album, LIVE DRUGS. The band made an interesting song selection, going with “Arms Like Boulders” (the opening track off its 2008 debut album Wagonwheel Blues), which isn’t featured on the new album; however, the performance encapsulates the ethos of the 10-song collection and sees the six-piece configuring the track in a way we haven’t heard before: using nothing more than five guitars and one mandolin to help guide Adam Granduciel’s gritty voice.
“As a bandleader, I always want to know where a song can go,” Granduciel said in a statement about LIVE DRUGS ahead of its release. “Even though we’ve recorded it, mastered it, put it out, and been touring on it, it doesn’t mean that we just have to do it the same way forever.”
Watch the new interpretation of “Arms Like Boulders” below.
Back in October, the War on Drugs debuted a new song called “Ocean of Darkness” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, marking their first new music since 2017’s A Deeper Understanding. Prior to the performance, the band hinted it was working on a a new album but hasn’t unveiled any further details.
