Flicted

Release date

May 27 2022

Track listing

1. Sidelines
2. Tag
3. The Hound
4. Too Much Monkey Business
5. Maybe Now
6. Bucket List
7. Days Ahead
8. Lidar
9. Is This It
10. Had Enough
11. Simple Prayer II
12. Point Omega

The structure on the cover has acted as a restaurant, wine bar, gas station and latterly an art museum called the Coffee Pot in Lexington, Virginia. (“‘Flicted” also marks the first time that Bruce has appeared on the cover of one of his studio releases since “A Night on the Town“!)

Personnel

Bruce Hornsby (piano, dulcimer, vocals, bass, 12-string-guitar, synth bass, violin, Vox Continental bass, tenor guitar, electric sitar, Hammond B3 organ, melody line), John Mailander (violin, mandolin), Chad Wright (drums, shaker, triangle, woodblock, percussion, Airto), J.V. Collier (bass, boogaloo), Gibb Droll (guitar, Reznor, Albert Freddie and BB), J.T. Thomas (mellotron, Chamberlin, Vox Continental bass, organ), Ezra Koenig (vocals), Blake Mills (guitar), Ethan Gruska (vocals, stuff, sprankles, celeste, schmutz, wooze, zuzz, woo woos, added attractions), Mamo Lucas (clarinet), Elizabeth Vonderheide (violin), Jonathan Richards (violin), Matt Umlauf (viola), Elizabeth Richards (cello), Christopher White (bass), Wayne Pooley (rhythm guitar), Nicholas Gallas (clarinet), Danielle Haim (vocals), Z Berg (vocals), Jack Dejohnette (drums), Peter Rotter (conductor),

yMusic: Rob Moose (violin, viola, octave viola, violina), Nadia Sirota (viola), Gabriel Cabezas (cello), Hideaki Aomori (clarinet), Alex Sopp (flute), C.J. Camerieri (trumpet).

Hey, if Bruce says Ethan Gruska is on “sprankles”, then I’m putting it in here…!

Audio clips

Fan reaction

‘Flicted reviews

Stereogum has the scoop, with quotes from Bruce. 

Waterloo Records describes ‘Flicted as “a more upbeat record overall, speaking on COVID-19 using the world of science as a recurring influence”. Bruce describes it to them. Bruce tells them the title “relates to this strange time in which we live, when the world is basically, well, ‘flicted”.

AllMusic: “‘Flicted is bright and lively in its form and rhythms, its electronic beats and processed voices percolating cheerfully and impishly, his pianos interweaving with spectral voices to create shimmering waves of melody.”

Glide Magazine says “the latest studio offering from the ivory tickling minstrel continues his dexterous ways with a formidable collection of material that challenges the listener, without being too overbearing, and is bolstered by a fresh batch of inspiring collaborations”.

AllAboutJazz: “Even across all the wildly different styles and sounds, there isn’t a moment of this album that sounds like it could have come from anyone else. It isn’t what Hornsby’s old-school pop or jam-band devotees might want (if any of them are still listening anyway), and it’s certainly not what anybody expected, but ‘Flicted shows a musical mind as creative as ever and gives this series a wrap-up as bonkers as it deserves”.

Uncut magazine (offline): “This is a generous, curious and commendably weird LP.”

musicOMH.com: “‘Flicted is one of the more positive responses you will hear to the pandemic, and it continues Bruce Hornsby’s rich vein of form in recent years. … It is giving Hornsby some of the best music of his career.”

American Songwriter: The music returns to the melodic strains of Hornsby’s more elegiac work, offering a frame of reference that longtime listeners will likely relate to best — from the sweeping piano undertow that characterizes “Days Ahead”—which sounds remarkably at times like Brian Wilson in symphonic mode—to the melodic strains of Lidar,” the “Way It Is”-like narrative that characterizes “Is This It,” the sparkle and sheen of “Had Enough,” the stately feel of “Simple Prayer II,” featuring the tender shared vocals of Z Berg, and ultimately, the dramatic delivery of “Point Omega.”

Purchase ‘Flicted

Amazon ‘Flicted purchase page (commission goes to Bruuuce.com)