The Prescriptions Time Apart

A timeless rock & roll band for the modern world, The Prescriptions sharpen their sound with Time Apart. Produced by Ben Tanner (Alabama Shakes) and Brendan Benson (The Raconteurs), the album funnels a half-century of American and British influences - including taut power-pop, explorative indie rock, jangling heartland hooks, and New Wave nuances - into something sharp and singular. The result is a warm, widescreen follow-up to The Prescriptions' 2019 debut, Hollywood Gold, its songs balanced halfway between classic craftsmanship and progressive exploration. When recording sessions for Time Apart began, The Prescriptions - singer/guitarist Hays Ragsdale, bassist Parker McAnnally, and drummer John Wood - were still riding high on the critical success of Hollywood Gold. The album's diverse sound had earned raves from publications like Billboard, who praised the "breadth in Ragsdale's writing," as well as appearances at SXSW and Jason Isbell's Shoals Fest. Back home in Nashville after a round of cross-country tour dates, Ragsdale filled his head with songs by Big Star, Elvis Costello, and other artists who, like him, used pop melody and rock & roll muscle as launchpads for a bigger, bolder sound. Flush with newly-written material, the band then headed into Brendan Benson's studio to record power-pop anthems like "April Blossoms," stacking vocal harmonies and bright bursts of electric guitar into songs that blended street-smart swagger with amplified shimmer. Months later, the guys found themselves in Florence, Alabama, where they recorded additional tunes with former Alabama Shakes keyboardist (and Single Lock Records co-founder) Ben Tanner. A global pandemic had brought the touring industry to a temporary halt, and The Prescriptions found themselves with unlimited time on their hands. They used that open-ended schedule to their advantage, experimenting with synthesizers and other unexpected textures, chasing down new ways of presenting their melody-driven sound. While the outside world grew increasingly...