Billy Howerdel (A Perfect Circle) Releases “Free and Weightless”

BILLY HOWERDEL (A PERFECT CIRCLE) RELEASES “FREE AND WEIGHTLESS”

https://youtu.be/Hc6Wpx9KWnk

WHAT NORMAL WAS (ALCHEMY RECORDINGS/RISE RECORDS/BMG)

ARRIVES JUNE 10

PRE-ORDERS AVAILABLE NOW: https://billyhowerdel.lnk.to/WhatNormalWas

NORTH AMERICAN TOUR BEGINS JUNE 11

“If you’re a huge fan of A Perfect Circle, you’re gonna love it hands down. Has shades of A Perfect Circle in there but also a lot of his early influences really coming through like The Cure, Depeche Mode, Echo & the Bunnymen. Solid!” – Daniel P. Carter (BBC Radio 1)

 
 
Click the image above or follow this link to hear “Free & Weightless”: https://youtu.be/Hc6Wpx9KWnk
 
 

May 12, 2022, LOS ANGELES – Billy Howerdel, the A Perfect Circle co-founder/multi-instrumentalist who recently announced the June 10 arrival of his solo debut album, What Normal Was (Alchemy Recordings/Rise Records/BMG), has released a second single from the forthcoming collection, sharing the song “Free and Weightless” (https://youtu.be/Hc6Wpx9KWnk) this morning.

“‘Free and Weightless” stood on its own as an instrumental demo for a year before I cracked the code on the vocals,” explains Howerdel. “It was built out of a rolling collage of loops, which isn’t something I would normally do. Thematically, everything on this record is pointed at personal relationships. The songs are a combination of a few conversations happening in a split-screen point-of-view. No one story is ever completely singular. It’s like patchwork.”

The self-produced, 10 song album is one of 2022’s most highly-anticipated rock records, with Revolver including the collection in their annual anticipated album rundown. In the days following the release of “Poison Flowers” (https://billyhowerdel.lnk.to/PoisonFlowers)Guitar World described the early preview as “treading a line between Pink Floyd and Nine Inch Nails,” while Loudwire said Howerdel “paints a haunting visual with a dark palette” and Consequence said “trip hop and electronic influences peer through… beneath ethereal guitar passages.”

Howerdel also recently announced an extensive North American tour in support of the forthcoming album, with the six-week trek kicking off on June 11 in Ventura, Calif. and including two dates with his APC bandmate Maynard James Keenan’s Puscifer: June 12 at the Greek Theatre (Los Angeles) and July 1 at Meadow Brook Amphitheatre (Rochester Hills, Mich). Tickets, and VIP packages, for all headlining dates are on-sale now, visit www.billyhowerdel.com for additional info.

What Normal Was album pre-orders and pre-saves, which include an array of limited-edition vinyl variants, and other physical formats, are available now (https://billyhowerdel.lnk.to/WhatNormalWas).

 
 
 
 

Tour dates:

June 11 Ventura, CA Ventura Music Hall

June 12 Los Angeles, CA Greek Theatre *

June 14 Solana Beach, CA Belly Up

June 15 San Francisco, CA The Independent

June 16 Roseville, CA Goldfield Trading Post

June 18 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom

June 19 Seattle, WA Neumos

June 21 Salt Lake City, UT Metro Music Hall

June 22 Denver, CO Gothic Theatre

June 24 Minneapolis, MN Fine Line Music Café

June 25 Milwaukee, WI Summerfest

June 26 St. Louis, MO Delmar Hall

June 28 Chicago, IL Cabaret Metro

June 29 Columbus, OH Newport Music Hall

July 1 Rochester Hills, MI Meadow Brook Amphitheatre *

July 2 Toronto, ON Axis Club

July 3 Montreal, QC Café Campus

July 5 Allston, MA Brighton Music Hall

July 6 New York, NY Gramercy Theatre

July 8 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of the Living Arts

July 9 Baltimore, MD Baltimore Soundstage

July 10 Charlotte, NC The Underground

July 12 Atlanta, GA Masquerade

July 14 New Orleans, LA House of Blues

July 15 Houston, TX White Oak Music Hall – Inside Downstairs

July 16 Dallas, TX The Echo Lounge & Music Hall

July 17 Austin, TX Emos

July 20 Phoenix, AZ Crescent Ballroom

*-w/Puscifer

 
 
Photo credit: Erica Weitz
 
 

New Jersey-born and Los Angeles-based vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and composer Billy Howerdel has quietly asserted himself as an alternative music auteur whose knack for massive hooks belies a keen emotional understanding and sonic acuity. Devoting his life to music after witnessing Pink Floyd live, he acted as something of a behind-the-scenes journeyman, working as an in-demand touring and studio tech for the likes of David Bowie, Guns N’ Roses, and Nine Inch Nails. Striking up a friendship with Maynard James Keenan when Tool opened for Fishbone (for whom Billy served as a tech), he occupied a room in a North Hollywood cottage with Maynard. Billy founded A Perfect Circle with Maynard in 1999. The group’s seminal full-length debut, Mer de Noms, went platinum and made history as the “highest Billboard Top 200 bow for a rock band’s debut.” They followed it with the platinum Thirteenth Step [2003] and gold Emotive [2004]. The group made their return with 2018’s Eat The Elephant, marking their fourth consecutive Top 5 debut on the Top 200. In between, Billy’s music has also appeared in video games and on the big screen. During 2008, he made his first solo statement under the moniker Ashes Divide with Keep Telling Myself It’s Alright. In the next decade, the album quietly pervaded as a cult favorite with millions of streams. On his 2022 proper full-length solo debut, What Normal Was [Alchemy Recordings/Rise Records/BMG], he inhabits a space that’s reverent of his past, present, and future all at once. After all of these years, songs, and shows, Billy is ready to introduce himself.

About Alchemy Recordings

Alchemy Recordings was founded in 2020 by veteran concert promoter Danny Wimmer (Welcome to Rockville, Bourbon & Beyond, Aftershock and more) of Danny Wimmer Presents, the biggest independent promoter in the U.S. and Dino Paredes, President of Shelter Music (A Perfect Circle, Crowded House, Puscifer) and former American Recordings A&R executive. The label, distributed by BMG, is home to Puscifer, Billy Howerdel, The Black Queen, The Neverly Boys and more.

 

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