Cut live to tape with very little overdubbing, Undress was recorded in the late summer of 2018 in Germantown, New York. Band members Ian Felice, James Felice, Will Lawrence (drums) and Jesske Hume (bass) teamed up with producer Jeremy Backofen to record their most personal and reflective album to date. Many of the songs on the new album are motivated by a shift from private to public concerns, says songwriter Ian Felice. It isn’t hard to find worthwhile things to write about these days, there are a lot of storms blooming on the horizon and a lot of chaos that permeates our lives. The hard part is finding simple and direct ways to address them.

“Undress” sees celebrated American folk rockers the Felice Brothers broaden their perspectives for their song writing….as Ian Felice puts it “Many of the songs…are motivated by a shift from private to public concerns. It isn’t hard to find worthwhile things to write about these days … The hard part is finding simple and direct ways to address them.” A key part of the early albums from this Upstate New York, family based band was a gritty realism and authenticity rooted deep in their home and upbringing, by turns raucous and beautiful. So before listening to the album I was concerned that shifting to wider topics would not be a straight forward development for them. The good news is that they have nailed it, maintaining both their sense of fun and their pathos to hit home with songs about modern American politics and society, without wavering into the preachy or generic. There are some typical rumbuctious country punk songs that will get the Bru bouncing when they play there in Jan. But there are also some gorgeous heartfelt ballads a couple of which are up there with the very best they have written. I think this is going to be my favourite FB album since the eponymous “The Felice Brothers” (scarily >10 years ago!!)

By Nick