The blues and hard rock singer reunites with producer Dave Cobb for an LP due in February
Eagle-eyed rock fans recognized Jay Buchanan as the singer of the Stone Pony house band in Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, singing Little Richard and John Lee Hooker songs with Jeremy Allen White’s Bruce. Now, the Rival Sons frontman returns to his own music with his debut solo album. Titled Weapons of Beauty, the LP arrives Feb. 6.
The 10-song project finds Buchanan reuniting with producer Dave Cobb, who oversaw Rival Sons albums like 2019’s Feral Roots and last year’s Darkfighter. According to a release, Buchanan wrote the songs that became Weapons of Beauty “in the solitude of an underground bunker deep in the Mojave Desert.” That includes “Caroline,” which arrives along with the album’s announcement.
“I suppose that writing about unquenchable grief allows you a kind of permission to pay respect to those deep chasms in your life without wallowing in them,” Buchanan said of “Caroline” in a statement. “Putting it in a song lets you buy the ticket and take the ride and then move on.”
While Buchanan, who recently stole the show at a BMI tribute to John Fogerty in Nashville with a barefoot performance of “Fortunate Son,” is venturing out on his own, Rival Sons remain active. Buchanan and the group will set sail on the second annual Little Steven’s Underground Garage Cruise in April 2026.
“As music continues to be choked out by technology, I wanted to draw pictures in the dirt,” Buchanan says of his forthcoming album. “This approach is right with me and I’ve just come to a point where there is no longer a choice. Weapons of Beauty is the sound of these plates shifting within me, too loud to ignore. Surprisingly, I’ve never known a vulnerability to feel so empowering.”
Weapons of Beauty track list:
1. “Caroline”
2. “High and Lonesome”
3. “True Black”
4. “Tumbleweeds”
5. “Shower of Roses”
6. “Deep Swimming”
7. “Sway”
8. “The Great Divide”
9. “Dance Me to the End of Love”
10. “Weapons of Beauty”
