Hear Jack White’s new heavy fuzz slasher, Fear of the Dawn
The classic metal-tinged tune marks a heavier turn for his new material
Jack White has debuted a new song, Fear Of The Dawn – the title track for the first of his two forthcoming albums, which is due for release April 8.
Clocking in at less than two minutes, Fear Of The Dawn is the most exciting guitar track we’ve heard from the records yet. It’s dripping in fuzz and creepy, echo-ing squeals that wrap in theremins, early metal and classic horror movie soundtracks.
The lyrics have a distinctly metallic tint to them, too. Take the opening lines: “When the moon is above you / Does it tell you I love you by screaming? Like when the sun starts to fall / And it’s crushing the walls and the ceiling”
Musically, at points it feels like White is wringing his guitar’s neck and at the halfway and end points it all crumbles into solo breaks full of tasty, warped bends.
The feel is somewhere between ‘Sabbath and Dawn Of The Dead composer Claudio Simonetti, with a bit of White’s Dead Weather darkness fed in for good measure.
It’s a good bedfellow for Taking Me Back (the first single we had of Fear Of The Dawn), and once again deeply contrasts with the gentle acoustic of Love Is Selfish, which was the first single from what will be White’s second album of 2022, Entering Heaven Alive.
The two albums are indeed shaping up to be very different, which is an exciting prospect for fans that have been waiting four years for new White material.
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A limited edition tri-color 7" packaging Love Is Selfish and Fear Of The Dawn together will be available exclusively at Third Man Records Nashville, Cass Corridor Detroit and London storefronts on February 19.
White will also undertake a sizeable series of live performances this year, with the Supply Chain Issues World Tour.
Head to Third Man Records for more information on the forthcoming Jack White albums and tour dates.
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Matt is Features Editor for GuitarWorld.com. Before that he spent 10 years as a freelance music journalist, interviewing artists for the likes of Total Guitar, Guitarist, Guitar World, MusicRadar, NME.com, DJ Mag and Electronic Sound. In 2020, he launched CreativeMoney.co.uk, which aims to share the ideas that make creative lifestyles more sustainable. He plays guitar, but should not be allowed near your delay pedals.