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The Grammy-nominated South Carolina guitar hero says the track is about a difficult time when he was processing grief and “coasting through life like a zombie”
Marcus King has dropped Blues Worse Than I Ever Had, the latest single from his forthcoming album, Young Blood.
Following the previously released Hard Working Man, Rescue Me and Lie Lie Lie, the new track, co-written with The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, is a slow-burning tune rooted in – go figure – the blues, flavored with subtle slide electric guitar bends and some faster lead-driven sections thrown in for good measure. Check it out below.
Blues Worse Than I Ever Had, King explains, reflects on a moment of despair in his life.
“At the time, I’d changed medications when I was trying to process the death of family members,” he says. “I was coasting through life like a zombie. When I’d get off them, I’d feel things that happened six months ago for the first time and crash down.”
Accompanying Blues Worse Than I Ever Had’s release, King has also released a live performance video of the track, recorded at Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound studio with Chris St. Hilaire playing drums and Nick Movshon on bass guitar. Watch it below.
Young Blood is due to arrive August 26 via Rick Rubin’s American Records/Republic Records/Snakefarm.
Sam was Staff Writer at GuitarWorld.com from 2019 to 2023, and also created content for Total Guitar, Guitarist and Guitar Player. He has well over 15 years of guitar playing under his belt, as well as a degree in Music Technology (Mixing and Mastering). He's a metalhead through and through, but has a thorough appreciation for all genres of music. In his spare time, Sam creates point-of-view guitar lesson videos on YouTube under the name Sightline Guitar.
