Whitney will issue a new album, Spark, via Secretly Canadian on September 16. The Chicago duo of Julien Ehlrich and Max Kakacek also shared the lead single, “Real Love,” as well as North American and European tour dates.
While Spark harkens back to the surprise success of Whitney’s 2016 debut Light Upon the Lake, the new direction of Spark grew out of the searching sessions for the band’s 2019 LP, Forever Turned Around, which saw Kakacek posing questions to Ehlrich like “What are we doing? How do we fix this, together?”
“Max and Julien knew a drastic change was necessary, but they never envisioned, of course, international lockdowns would facilitate it,” press materials for the new record noted. Shortly after the pandemic took hold, Julien headed to Portland, Oregon to clear his head after the end of a yearslong relationship. Max soon followed to escape the tail end of the Chicago winter but also to collaborate with his friend and co-writer. With flights grounded and tours canceled, the duo dug in in Portland for 14 months to craft the material that would become the 12-track Spark.
“We had time to just sit and watch the body of work grow in real time,” Julien said of the period. “We were just stacking stronger and stronger songs on top of each other.”
“Our favorite way to make records,” Max added, “the way we made the first one.”
Whitney returned to Chicago in May 2021 before heading to Texas to cut the new record with producers Brad Cook and John Congleton. While still in Chicago, the duo wrote lead single “Real Love,” which Julien detailed:
“Max and I wrote ‘REAL LOVE’ in June 2021 right after a cross country move back to Chicago. I was experiencing heightened levels of anxiety and panic, while the entire city was re-emerging from isolation. I’ve been running away from and self medicating my anxiety for as long as I can remember, but for whatever reason, it felt like it was time to dive straight into it. During late night sessions over a two week period, we captured the embrace of anxiety and fear in a way that resonated with us immediately. We spent the next few summer nights driving on Ashland with the windows down and the song turned up. It felt like an emotional and musical burst of light and we’re so grateful to finally be sharing that with people.”
“Real Love” arrived with an accompanying music video directed by Aaron Brown. Watch it below:
Whitney is hitting the road in North America and Europe this fall. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 17 at 9 a.m. local time. Find ticket info and tour dates below:
