JR Slayer Shares New Single I'LL NEVER LEAVE U Featuring Warpaint's Jenny Lee

Los Angeles-based band JR Slayer featuring Cody Votolato of The Blood Brothers revealed their new single "I'll Never Leave U" which features Jenny Lee of Warpaint. The track premiered at Alternative Press along with an exclusive interview with Cody. "I'll Never Leave U" is from JR Slayer's new album You Found Me out February 1 (pre-order). JR Slayer has a Los Angeles record release show on February 16 at The Hi Hat which will also included performances by Facial and Slugs. More info can be found HERE.

Last month JR Slayer shared "Half Lyfe," from forthcoming release, with Brooklyn Vegan and the song can also be streamed at Soundcloud or Spotify. About the song Cody Votolato told Brooklyn Vegan, "'Half Lyfe' is about the internal battle when you unexpectedly and unintentionally become forever bound to another person living far away. Your hearts intentions are transparent and pure, but proximity and confusion on how/why you ended up here leave you powerless with no clear end in sight. Stuck between two worlds. More complex than just distance alone. What do you do in this situation? Does the fear and ache of dout/separation conduct your follow thru? Or do you fight through the confusion, discomfort and pain, letting devotion weather the storm until your ship meets its final destination...true love."

At first glance, it may seem tough to nail down JR Slayer, the latest endeavor of Head Wound Cityguitarist Cody Votolato, who's past lives include The Blood Brothers and Jaguar Love. But when you ask him, it is fairly black and white. Cody says, "JR Slayer is just a place where I'm able to navigate all the different things I've naturally started doing over the past few years, be it song writing, solo albums, remixes or producing."

"I've never been fully comfortable just putting 'by Cody Votolato' on something. I really liked the idea of having an umbrella to do it all under that's separate from my name. I wanted it to start a new chapter, with an opportunity to not be 'a member of', not be 'Cody from this or that'. It's just JR Slayer, it's what I do."

JR Slayer's sophomore album, You Found Me, was not planned. "It started with one song, and then there were three. I thought I'd make an EP, releasing them song by song, but then there were five, then nine." Cody adds, "I would write a song and record it immediately in my bedroom in Los Angeles. I live next to a children's hospital, where helicopters are taking off and landing all day. The street is busy. I didn't worry too much about isolating the sound. Everything you hear is my life. Written and recorded in just under two months, it was apparent that the subject matter was all connected, so it had to be an album."

You Found Me is a concept record. A journey, stumbling into long distance love, unexpectedly, not manipulated or coerced into being. A genuine connection that cannot be rationalized. It follows the path of emotions when thrust into a new beginning, not of your own volition, but of something seemingly greater. It grapples with the excitement, joy, pain, fear, confusion and gratitude that becomes all-consuming when entering a brand new unexpected love.

"JR Slayer in its current form, is a sacred home for me. It is a safe space to start new conversations with art and music and understand how I relate not only to it, but myself. Not one where I am trying to receive as much as I give to it, but one that allows me to fully realize myself while being able to step out of my comfort zone."

photo credit: Zane Roesell

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