Friendship Commanders Share New Single 'Outlive You'

Nashville-based heavy duo Friendship Commanders have shared their new single "OUTLIVE YOU" (Steve Albini Mix) and its accompanying video. The track debuted at Treble Zine and is on all streaming platforms for any playlist shares. "OUTLIVE YOU" is featured on Friendship Commanders' album BILL - The Steve Albini Mixes out on July 22, which would have been Steve’s 62nd birthday (pre-order).

Friendship Commanders is also announcing a Nashville record release show taking place on July 26 at DRKMTTR. Tickets are available HERE.

In late 2017, Nashville-based heavy rock duo Friendship Commanders set up shop at Electrical Audio in Chicago to make their second album, BILL, with Steve Albini. The result of their week-long collaboration was a thirteen-track body of work about change, grief, and the ever-elusive idea of community. Tracked entirely to tape, BILL bridges the stylistic gap between the band’s punk/hardcore beginnings and the sludge/grunge metal sound of their later releases, 2020’s HOLD ON TO YOURSELF EP and 2023’s MASS album. The version of BILL that was released on October 5th, 2018, was mixed by FC drummer, Jerry Roe. But the original mixes were done by Steve Albini himself. Like the recordings, those mixes are analog, performed live in the studio.

About the mixes, FC songwriter, guitarist, and primary vocalist Buick Audra says:

“We always planned on releasing the Albini mixes. Always. But we kept writing and releasing new work and the right moment never seemed to present itself. We didn’t imagine that Steve would ever pass. It was a joy to make this record with him, and his mixes are reflective of the loud, lovely time we all had together. They’re guitar-forward, angular, and dynamic. And now I guess it’s time to share them. We’ll miss Steve for the rest of our lives but feel immense gratitude that we had this experience together—and that we have this work to show for it. The album was written about complicated grief, but losing Steve has given way to clean, uncomplicated grief. So, this release feels different this time around. More loving. More pure.”

In advance of the full collection, the band have chosen to release one track as a single, “OUTLIVE YOU" (Steve Albini Mix). The reason for that is simple: it was Albini’s favorite. Buick Audra says, “Steve told me that he related to the message of this song—a moving moment for me as a songwriter and lifelong fan of his music. I think you can hear that he favored this one by the way he mixed it. The amp sound at the beginning of the track makes my eyes water now. I love that he chose to leave it in there. And we didn’t release this as a single the first time around; it deserves its moment.”

“OUTLIVE YOU" (Steve Albini Mix) is a song about fearing the death of someone you love. The sentiment of “I don’t wanna outlive you” is one known by many, regardless of the specifics. It was written about a friend whose addictions had become visible from a distance, and which Buick Audra saw as potentially fatal. On an album about navigating the myriad difficulties attached to loving other people, it serves as an earnest plea to stay alive. The song bears new, sobering weight today, and yet the recording remains vital and propulsive.

In one of his last emails to Buick and Jerry, Steve wrote, “Stay safe, hang on, don’t quit.” They offer his mixes of their album in the spirit of his kind, fortifying words. They are grateful to have been part of his legacy of music, and to have had him be part of theirs. They can think of no better way to honor their late collaborator and friend than with loud music. Long live.

Bill - The Steve Albini Mixes Track List

1 Your Fear Is Showing (Steve Albini Mix)
2. Horrify (Steve Albini Mix)
3. Women to the Front (Steve Albini Mix)
4. Saw and Heard (Steve Albini Mix)
5. Outlive You (Steve Albini Mix)
6. In the Afterthoughts (Steve Albini Mix)
7. Charade (Steve Albini Mix)
8. Eulogy Envy (Steve Albini Mix)
9. What You Ravage (Steve Albini Mix)
10. The Choice (Steve Albini Mix)
11. Resolution of the Wants (Steve Albini Mix)
12. Of the We (Steve Albini Mix)
13. Desperately Seeking (Steve Albini Mix)

Photo credit:  Anna Haas

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