Hear Brian Wilson’s Sunny New Song ‘Sail Away’
Brian Wilson wants to “follow the sun to the white sand beaches” on his lush new single, “Sail Away.” The track, which finds the singer-songwriter harmonizing with fellow Beach Boys alumni Blondie Chaplin and Al Jardine, premiered Monday at Wall Street Journal. “We [tried] to recapture the feeling of Beach Boy harmonies in the 1960s,” Wilson told the publication. “We overdubbed five times, which gave us 20 voices. That’s a small choir.”
“Sail Away” is one of 13 new tunes on Wilson’s upcoming solo LP, No Pier Pressure, out April 7th. Former Beach Boys bandmate David Marks appears on two tracks, “What Ever Happened” and “The Right Time,” and a music video for the latter tune features Wilson joined by an A-list crew of collaborators in the studio. She & Him, fun. frontman Nate Ruess and country singer Kacey Musgraves also join Wilson on the album.
Jardine and Chaplin will join Wilson on his upcoming summer tour, which kicks off June 18th in Saratoga, California and runs until mid-July. Prior to the jaunt and album release, Wilson will appear at his own tribute concert, Brian Fest, which is scheduled for March 30th at L.A.’s Fonda Theatre. The event will feature a number of high-profile artists – including Norah Jones, Heart’s Ann Wilson, the Killers’ Brandon Flowers and the Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne and Steven Drozd – covering Wilson material from across five decades.
Wilson is also the focus of a biopic, Love & Mercy, out June 5th, which stars Paul Dano (as Wilson in the Sixties) and John Cusack (as modern-day Wilson). “I hope the movie leaves them with a sense of compassion,” Dano told Rolling Stone of the project in 2013.
The Beach Boys reunited in 2012 for a 50th anniversary tour and new album, That’s Why God Made the Radio. But Wilson says the band isn’t currently planning a follow-up. “I think solo is my game,” he told The Wall Street Journal.