Woodstock

Portugal. The Man’s much-anticipated 8th album, Woodstock, dropped on June 16th, 2017. It is their third album since signing to Atlantic, following Evil Friends (2013) and their label debut In the Mountain, In the Cloud (2011).

The inspiration for the title came from Gourley’s interest in Woodstock, the revolutionary music festival from 1969, kindled by finding his father’s original ticket stub. This influenced him to make protest music akin to the kind that so powerfully emerged in the mid-late ‘60s in response to the Vietnam War. Gourley stated that he was “trying to write music that would help people feel they’re not alone, even if they’re angry or feeling lost. This video is our way of saying that we’re all in this together.”

This appeal to our common humanity is reflected on the single “Number One ft. Son Little and Richie Havens,” which samples the very song that opened Woodstock, and became one of its most iconic performances, Richie Haven’s “Freedom (Motherless Child).”

Musically, this record contains a remarkable diversity of genres: psych-rock, radio-friendly pop, funk rock, programmed beats, hip-hop and rap (sampling on “Number One,” a rap verse by Fatlip on “Mr. Lonely”). “Noise Pollution” features Gourley rapping his verses and was produced by Mike D of Beastie Boys, a group that Gourley and Zach Carothers bonded around growing up in Alaska (“Feel It Still” references 1986, the year Licensed to Ill came out). The band continued to benefit from the creative direction of Danger Mouse, and the sound they cultivated with him on Evil Friends can be heard on a number of tracks (e.g. the orchestral/choral outro to “Number One.”) It’s worth noting as well that Zoe Manville contributes a significant amount of vocals, perhaps the most on a Portugal. The Man record since The Satanic Satanist or American Ghetto.

Lyrically, the album tackles a variety of topics, from the pains of growing up (“Easy Tiger”), to climate change (“Tidal Wave”), to our celebrity culture (Rich Friends,“ ”Keep On“), to the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris in 2015 (”Noise Pollution“), and to courageous optimism in the face of all this adversity (”Number One“).

To mark the release of the album, the band posted the cover art with the following caption to their Instagram:

Friends. We know, we get it, 4 years and 10 days have gone by since we put a record out. 35280 hours. A. Fucking. Eternity. We’ve been growing, getting stronger, claws sharper. We wanted to give you our best. So here it is- WOODSTOCK, our ten finest. From us to you. THANK YOU for riding along with us. We’re all in this together…
Love, P.TM