Following the band’s highly successfully summer tour, legendary improvisational rockers Phish have announced the Oct. 7 release of their forthcoming album Big Boat, the collective’s 13th record. In the meantime, the Vermont band’s devoted “phans” can hold themselves over with “Breath And Burning,” the album’s horn-driven first single. It’s an unabashedly celebratory tune, soaringly anthemic in both musical arrangement and lyrical content. “We’re not going gently, we’re going to rage with Page at the dying of the light” sings Trey Anastasio, a blatant recognition and defiance of mortality coming from a band that’s been performing together, off and on, for over 30 years.
“I kept thinking this will all end sooner or later, one way or another,” Anastasio told NPR, referring to the Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, concert that inspired the tune. “So I’m gonna enjoy every last second of it while we’re still here. I’m not gonna wave away the dessert cart on the Titanic. I want to be like that string quintet that kept playing while it sank.” It’s a morbid reference but also one that propels the band, unflinching, into their fourth decade. Big Boat was produced by Bob Ezrin, who also produced 2013’s Fuego, and was recorded during their recent tour. Take a listen to the song below:
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(Via NPR)