Clocking in at a whopping 7 minutes and 39 seconds, The Ides Of March is the longest song on the record, and sees Kennedy joined by longtime friend and drummer Zia Uddin and bassist Tim Tournier.
Throughout, Kennedy nods to the titans of classic rock, with Led Zep-style acoustic lines, Rolling Stone-esque cleans and an overall composition reminiscent of A Night at the Opera-era Queen. You can listen to the track below:
“From a lyrical standpoint, the first half serves as a warning,” Kennedy says. “It paints a picture of a very dark dystopian future.
“The title is a reference to Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and the cautionary phrase, ‘Beware the Ides of March.’ The second half breaks from the bleak outlook to remind us that we can do better if we remember who we are and what we were meant to be. Cool heads prevail in times of change.”
“[This album is] definitely a little more plugged in, as far as the overall approach," he told Download TV last year. “Year Of The Tiger [Kennedy's debut solo album] leans heavily on the acoustic side of things and definitely has a blues vibe.
“This continues in the sense that this is my opportunity to venture more into the more bluesy realm – especially as a guitar player. With that said, it's a little louder – it's much more plugged in. It rocks a little harder and there's going to be a lot of guitar silliness on it. So I'm excited.”
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Take a look at the tracklisting for The Ides Of March below:
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.
