Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Dave Stewart released his new 10-track album, The Way It Was Back Then, on Oct. 30 through Bay Street Records. The album is available on all streaming platforms. Stewart wrote, performed, and produced it entirely himself.
Alongside the release, Stewart launched Art of Chaos, a new interactive app for fans. It features exclusive acoustic versions of songs from the album and nine previously unreleased tracks available only through the app. The app is available on iOS and Android through the Apple App Store and Google Play.
The app’s interface is designed as a replica of Stewart’s apartment, the meeting place for the 1990s British art invasion. The apartment welcomed Damien Hirst, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Liam Gallagher, Blur, and many others.
The Way It Was Back Then was recorded at Stardust in the Bahamas and built almost entirely from spontaneous, one-take performances. Stewart wrote no lyrics beforehand and instead sang, played guitar, and improvised melodies in real time. His longtime engineer and collaborator Jesse Samler played bass, drums, keyboard, and programming, and the two mixed the record themselves.
“These songs are about memory, survival, love, loss, damage, loyalty, betrayal, and the strange feeling of still being here after all of it,” Stewart said. “The Way It Was Back Then is not really about trying to go back. It’s about finally facing what was there.”
The album follows its title track, released Sept. 25 with a music video filmed on the streets of Soho. Stewart also shared the official video for “Cry If You Want To” on Oct. 30, filmed in a fan’s home in Buckinghamshire, England, and featuring a close-knit community of neighbors and their families.
The tracklist includes “The Way It Was Back Then,” “Your Wishes,” “Cry If You Want To,” “The House Where I Was Born,” “Black Cat,” “Makes Me Happy (And Sad),” “Oh Jesse,” “All Done,” “Thin Ice” and “What’s A Man Supposed To Do.”
Stewart is a Songwriters Hall of Famer and co-founded Eurythmics with Annie Lennox. His career spans four decades and more than 100 million album sales worldwide. He has produced albums and co-written songs with artists including Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Tom Petty, Gwen Stefani, and Stevie Nicks.
Click here to listen to The Way It Was Back Then.
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