Coming off Mark Morton’s recent “Hell & Back” single, the longtime Lamb of God shredder has returned with another hickory-scented country-rocker from his upcoming solo album. This one’s called “Brother,” and he’s put it together with brother-in-arms and outlaw country-maker Cody Jinks.
The new tune, which will appear on Morton’s forthcoming Without the Pain album, hits a Southern-styled arrangement of creek-ripplin’ guitar runs, acoustic twang, Jinks’ drawling vocal work and a callous-scorchin’ solo from Morton. Lyrically, the track is said to home in on themes of “regret, reconciliation, and personal accountability.”
“On a long bus ride, somewhere in the middle of a Lamb of God tour, I scribbled some lyrics down in my notebook,” Morton explained in a statement. “Some time after, having paired them with a simple chord progression, I presented my idea to Cody Jinks and Travis Denning during a writing session in Nashville. Three hours later, we walked out with ‘Brother.’”
He continued: “‘Brother’ is a deeply personal song that speaks directly to the theme of family separation and estrangement. I have learned through observation and my own lived experience that it is a universal and all too common phenomenon. We all poured a lot of ourselves into this song and I’m grateful to Cody for singing on it with me. I hope you’ll enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it.”
You can check out the new single up above in a jam-style music video set in Colorado’s wintry cabin country.
“Brother” follows Morton’s recent “Hell & Back” single with Cadillac Three vocalist Jaren Johnston, as well as Morton and Clutch vocalist Neal Fallon’s cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “The Needle and the Spoon.”
All three songs are set to arrive on Without the Pain, a 10-song collection reflecting Morton’s love of country, blues, folk and more. Outside of that Skynrd cover, Morton co-wrote the album with a coterie of guest musicians. The record also features appearances from Mastodon’s Troy Sanders, Grace Bowers, Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown and more.
Without the Pain is out April 11th via Snakefarm. You can pre-order over here.
Without the Pain tracklisting:
Hell & Back (feat. Jaren Johnston of The Cadillac Three
Brother (feat. Cody Jinks)
Without The Pain (feat. Matt James of Blacktop Mojo
Kite String (feat. Travis Denning)
Come December (feat. Charlie Starr of Blackberry Smoke, Jason Isbell)
Dust (feat. Cody Jinks, Grace Bowers
Forever In The Light (feat. Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown)
Nocturnal Sun (feat. Troy Sanders, Jared James Nichols)
The Needle And The Spoon (feat. Neil Fallon of Clutch)
Home (feat. Travis Denning)