On Saturday night, Gary Clark Jr. made his musical guest debut on Saturday Night Live. The SNL spot came as the Texas-native Clark continues his media blitz in promotion of his new album, This Land, due to be released on March 1st via Warner Bros Records.
The new album marks a noticeable departure from the blues-focused style for which Clark is known. As Clark explained in This Land‘s initial announcement video late last year, “When I started off on the record, it was really about the drums. If the drums aren’t poppin’, you’re wasting your time. … I got all the colors, I’ma paint with all of them. … My punk edge comes from really just wanting to be a punk. Reggae influence? Yes. It goes back to that fusion thing. … When I was growing up, a lot of music venues played lots of different types of music every night. A lot of influences. A lot of stuff going on. It’s in what I do, I guess. … I’m not gonna give you my whole recipe, but the only person who can put rules on it is yourself.”
The two new songs Gary performed on SNL embodied that consciously diverse approach. First, he dug into “Pearl Cadillac“, the LP’s falsetto R&B power ballad with plenty of fuzzed-out guitar licks and cresting crescendos. For his second number, Clark went with the album’s title track, “This Land”, the fiery, hip-hop tinged number that made waves when its striking, racial bigotry-focused music video dropped last month. You can check out videos of both numbers below:
Gary Clark Jr. – “Pearl Cadillac”
[Video: Saturday Night Live]
Gary Clark Jr. – “This Land”
[Video: Saturday Night Live]
Gary Clark Jr. also recently announced a lengthy crop of 2019 summer tour dates. For a full list of Clark’s upcoming tour dates and more information about This Land, head to his website.
The post Gary Clark Jr. Shows Off Diverse Musical Styles On New Album In ‘Saturday Night Live’ Debut [Watch] appeared first on L4LM.
