Stroke 9 Announce New Album 'Calafrio'

William Lee | 01-20-2020

Stroke 9 have announced that they will be releasing their new studio album "Calafrio" on January 17th, which is the follow-up to their 2007 album "The Last of the International Playboys".

The new album was inspired by their home state of California and they recorded the record last spring studios, hotel rooms, and backyards up and down the coast.

The album features drums from Steve Ferrone (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Bee Gees), and song mixes were provided by Ruadhri Cushnan (Mumford & Sons, Ed Sheeran), Eric "ET" Thorngren (Talking Heads, Kenny Wayne Shepherd), John Agnello (Kurt Vile, Phosphorescent, Sun Volt), and Daniel Schlett (The War on Drugs, Modest Mouse).

Greg Gueldner had this to say, "It is truly the most collaborative album we've ever made, even though we were geographically distributed. Jens would record an idea down in Los Angeles, and upload the file to a shared folder.

"We'd download the track at John's studio at the old Industrial Light and Magic building up in San Rafael, and build the lyrics and other instruments around that. So even though we weren't all together all the time, the songs wound up being more personal and intimate than if we'd sat in a room together for a month writing."

Esterkyn said, "We came up with the concept of Calafrio early in the process. To us, the word is a portmanteau of everything we wanted to do with this record. We wanted it to sound like California. You have the southern heat with 'cala,' and 'frio' takes care of the NorCal chill."

Funke added, "With every decision we made, from the instruments to the artwork to the lyrics, we asked ourselves, 'OK, but is that Calafrio?'. We tried to make something positive and joyful, to chronicle and reflect on the 30-year journey the band has taken to this point.

"We've done it all -- starting with vans, on through the major-label ride, all the years of touring. So now this is music for us, our friends, and our fans, to take from the beach to the redwoods, and on to BBQs, bonfires, and boat docks everywhere."