Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson has formed a new band called Envy of None that will release its self-titled debut album on April 8.
Envy of None also features bassist Andy Curran of the veteran Canadian group Coney Hatch, guitarist/keyboardist Alfio Annibalini and singer-songwriter Maiah Wynne.
The 11-track collection offers up a wide sonic palette, with influences including alternative rock, synth rock and experimental rock mixed with melodic pop.
Lifeson has been working on the Envy of None material for several years, but he says the project really took off when Wynne got involved.
“Maiah became my muse,” Alex maintains. “She was able to bring this whole new ethereal thing through her sense of melody on tracks like ‘Liar’ and ‘Look Inside.’…I’ve never had that kind of inspiration working with another musician.”
The band has released “Liar” as an advance digital track, and a companion lyric video has premiered at the Kscope label’s YouTube channel.
The album ends with a song titled “Western Sunset,” which Alex wrote as a tribute to late Rush drummer Neil Peart.
“I visited Neil when he was ill,” says Lifeson. “I was on his balcony watching the sunset and found inspiration. There’s a finality about a sunset that kinda stayed with me throughout the whole process. It had meaning. It was the perfect mood to decompress after all these different textures…a nice way to close the book.”
The album is available for pre-order now, and will be issued digitally, on CD, on LP — in black vinyl and colored-vinyl variants — and as a deluxe limited-edition package. The latter collection features a blue-vinyl LP, a two-CD set offering five bonus tracks, and a 28-page booklet.
Here’s the full Envy of None track list:
“Never Said I Love You”
“Shadow”
“Look Inside”
“Liar”
“Spy House”
“Dog’s Life”
“Kabul Blues”
“Old Strings”
“Dumb”
“Enemy”
“Western Sunset”
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