Starting Now (Toad the Wet Sprocket album)

Starting Now
A black background with a disc in the center that has a collage of images
Studio album by
Toad the Wet Sprocket
ReleasedAugust 27, 2021 (2021-08-27)
RecordedLate 2019,[1] early 2020[2]
GenreAlternative rock
Length36:38
LanguageEnglish
LabelAbe's Records, The SRG/ILS Group
ProducerMikal Blue
Toad the Wet Sprocket chronology
Toad the Wet Sprocket Box Set
(2018) 		Starting Now
(2021)

Starting Now is the seventh studio album (eighth if you count In Light Syrup) by American alternative rock band Toad the Wet Sprocket released on August 27, 2021 (exactly 30 years since the release of Fear) through Abe’s Records. This is the first album since the departure of longtime drummer Randy Guss in 2020.

The album started with vocalist Glen Phillips writing material that he thought would not fit a solo album and as his bandmates recorded versions of some of this music, he became convinced to make a studio album with them.[1] Recording was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic[2] and the musicians continued piecing together tracks over email, also including guest musicians such as rhythm and blues vocalist Michael McDonald.[1] The songwriting goes back several years and discuss Phillips' spiritual journey and personal life.[2]

Track listing

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All songs written by Glen Phillips, except where noted.

  1. "Game Day" – 3:44
  2. "Transient Whales" – 3:32
  3. "The Best of Me" – 3:22
  4. "Starting Now" – 3:47
  5. "In the Lantern Light" – 3:55
  6. "Hold On" (includes lyrics from "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus) – 2:44
  7. "Truth" (includes excerpt from "Oration in Memory of Abraham Lincoln" by Frederick Douglass) – 2:51
  8. "Slowing Down" (Phillips and Mando Saenz) – 3:40
  9. "Dual Citizen" – 3:49
  10. "Fever" – 5:13

Personnel

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Toad the Wet Sprocket

  • Dean Dinning – bass guitar, keyboards, percussion, backing vocals
  • Josh Daubin – drums
  • Glen Phillips – vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, mixing on "Dual Citizen"
  • Todd Nichols – lead guitar, backing vocals

Additional personnel

  • Mikal Blue – recording, mixing (except on "Dual Citizen"), production
  • Eric Boulanger – engineering, mastering
  • Daphne Chen – violin
  • Richard Dodd – cello
  • Eric Gorfain – strings, violin, arrangement
  • Elyse Grossman – backing vocals on "Game Day"
  • Leah Katz – viola
  • Jonathan Kingham – piano on "Truth"
  • Jeremy Lawton – organ on "Truth"
  • Brody Lowe – artwork
  • Michael McDonald – vocals on "The Best of Me"
  • Chris Pelonis – backing vocals on "The Best of Me"
  • Sophia Phillips – backing vocals on "Game Day"
  • The Section Quartet – strings

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Burcaw, Joe (December 3, 2021). ""Dean Dinning Holds No Fear, Starting Now" (A Conversation with Toad the Wet Sprocket's Secret Weapon)". Player Interviews. Bass Gear Magazine. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Benitez-Eves, Tina (September 14, 2021). "Toad the Wet Sprocket Are One Again, 'Starting Now'". Features. American Songwriter. ISSN 0896-8993. OCLC 17342741. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
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