A timeless rock & roll band for themodern world, The Prescriptions sharpen their sound with Time Apart. Produced by Ben Tanner (Alabama Shakes) and BrendanBenson (The Raconteurs), the album funnels a half-century of American andBritish sounds — including taut power-pop, explorative indie rock, janglingheartland hooks, and New Wave nuances — into something sharp and singular. Theresult is a warm, widescreen follow-up to The Prescriptions' 2019 debut, Hollywood Gold, its songs balancedhalfway between classic craftsmanship and progressive exploration.

When recording sessions for TimeApart began, The Prescriptions — singer/guitarist Hays Ragsdale, bassistParker McAnnally, and drummer John Wood — were still riding high on thecritical success of Hollywood Gold.The album's diverse sound had earned raves from publications like Billboard, who praised the "breadthin Ragsdale's writing," as well as appearances at SXSW and Jason Isbell'sShoals Fest. Back home in Nashville after a round of cross-country tour dates,Ragsdale filled his head with songs by Big Star, Elvis Costello, and otherartists who, like him, used pop melody and rock & roll muscle as launchpadsfor a bigger, bolder sound. Flush with newly-written material, the band thenheaded into Brendan Benson's studio to record power-pop anthems like"April Blossoms," stacking vocal harmonies and bright bursts ofelectric guitar into songs that blended street-smart swagger with amplifiedshimmer.

Months later, the guys found themselves in Florence, Alabama, wherethey recorded additional tunes with former Alabama Shakes keyboardist (andSingle Lock Records co-founder) Ben Tanner. A global pandemic had brought thetouring industry to a temporary halt, and The Prescriptions found themselveswith unlimited time on their hands. They used that open-ended schedule to theiradvantage, experimenting with synthesizers and other unexpected textures,chasing down new ways of presenting their melody-driven sound. While theoutside world grew increasingly chaotic, The Prescriptions created their ownuniverse inside the studio.

"When we recorded HollywoodGold, we spent a lot of time rehearsing, then went into the studio and cutmultiple songs each day," says McAnnally, who grew up alongside Ragsdalein Birmingham, Alabama, before forming the band with fellow Tennesseetransplant John Wood in 2015. "This record was more about going out andfinding something new, and having the luxury of time in order to do that. Witheach song, we were asking ourselves, 'What's compelling? What have we not heardbefore?' We were deliberate. We were collaborative. This album is what itsounds like to really mean it."

"You can listen to our first record and hear our differentinfluences," adds Wood. "We've always had wide interests, but Time Apart allowed us to become morespecific. We've been a band for seven years now, and that means we're able tomove together in one direction, which isn't something we could easily do at thebeginning. We wanted to squeeze all the juice we could out of this combinationof power-pop and experimental rock."

Fiery and forward-looking, TimeApart explores both sides of the pop/rock divide. It's a 21st century albumrooted in everything that made the classic stuff so compelling — sharpsongwriting, ringing refrains, percussive stomp, and guitars that chime oneminute and churn the next. "Compartmentalize" finds room for icyverses and noisy, open-armed choruses, while "Fire Moon" mixesacoustic guitars into a spacey, neo-psych soundscape. On "I GetLost," Ragsdale sings about his own human fallibility over textures thatare beautiful one minute and booming the next.

Much of Time Apart finds itsfrontman in an introspective mood, turning his personal journey toward honestyinto something universal. "My favorite songwriters don't just make upclever phrases," he says. "They're speaking some sort of truth, and Idon't know if you can speak that truth unless you've become truthful withyourself. It's a process of accessing that honesty and communicating it toothers. That's the goal of a lot of these songs."

Released by Single Lock Records, Time Apart is an album for the heart,head, and hips. The Prescriptions have never been shy about nodding to thehook-driven rockers who came before them, but here, they carry those influencesinto uncharted territory, uncovering something that's truly theirs along theway. It was time together that created TimeApart, and The Prescription have never defined their ambition or abilitiesso clearly before.

SPECKLED BIRD

Q: Who the heck is this?

A: "We're Speckled Bird, proudly conceived over evening recording sessions at Portside Sound in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Most of us live just over the river in Florence. The band is made up of members of Belle Adair, Alabama Shakes, Della Ray, The Prescriptions and John Paul White's touring outfit."

Q: What are the songs about?

A: "This EP, all of the songs ended up floating around the idea of someone who is just barely hanging on while the world spins. Culturally, they were written between 2018-19, and that’s just kind of how America and the world feels now. A million miles an hour in the Trump shit parade, while also being bombarded by social media and the world at large 24 hours a day. That has us rattled, whether we know it or not. And I think one of the things we’re missing is many outlets for catharsis, especially in community. So that’s why the songs take the form of big rock numbers. Enough folks are playing reflective songs on their acoustic guitars. Enough. These are to be played in big spaces, out open windows on highways, etc. Or on your headphones late at night. Playing loud. So it’s escapist, but also defiant. We’re in an existential war.

Q: An existential war? That’s really pretentious.

A: "It just means that music is a really important way to be alive, in spite of a lot of bullshit. That it can be a weapon for your survival, in addition to something with healing powers. Both, and a million other things, all at once."