The War on Drugs announces a live album ahead of its tour with The National

LOS ANGELES (AP) — For many musicians, a live album is an afterthought — a way to quickly appease insatiable fans or make some easy money.

But when Adam Granduciel, the frontman of the anthemic rock band The War on Drugs, set out to make their newest live album announced Wednesday, it was a labor of love that is anything but quick or easy.

For “Live Drugs Again,” out Sept. 13, Granduciel wanted to do justice to the ways in which the band has grown, both literally (they’ve added a member since their first live album was released in 2020) and figuratively as musicians who have honed their sound. So he combed through about 100 hours of recordings from their shows and even spliced different parts of the same songs together.

The album comes in tandem with the start of their co-headlining tour with The National, which kicks off Sept. 12 in New Hampshire. Granduciel spoke with The Associated Press about how performing a song live changes it, whether the band has new music in the pipeline and how he came to play guitar on Beyoncé’s “II Most Wanted.”

The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

GRANDUCIEL: I think we used maybe like 50 shows total. There are a few songs where it’s four shows spliced together, and part of that too is just having fun with the process. You know, you go into it remembering specific nights, like there are a few songs from a show in Bentonville, Arkansas, which is a town we had never been to in 20 years of being a band. And we kind of rolled into this town and it was this really beautiful little young artist student community. It was incredible. We had an amazing day and the show at night was outdoors, and it was just one of those memorable nights.

You kind of start there, and then you get so deep into the process of mixing versions and maybe doing a little post-production, like all great live records do. I just wanted to put as much work into it as myself and the band put into our live show, you know, just the amount of time it takes to sort of hone a set, it’s years really. And we wanted to kind of put that into the record.

GRANDUCIEL: Well, unlike our first live record, we used a lot of the actual ambient mics that we recorded. Sometimes it can be tricky with phase and all this stuff. But for this one, we used a lot of the actual just source ambient mics so all the crowds are real to that moment. I think most live records these days are just going to be sort of put into digital spaces. You just have more control over everything. But this one, I think we had like 12 different ambient mics throughout the stage and the venues.

GRANDUCIEL: Definitely after. I think things just naturally progress. And they sort of end up in a whole new place once the audience is part of the equation, you know? I mean, if we went back and made a re-recorded “Under the Pressure” the way we play it, it probably wouldn’t be the same thing on a record. But whenever you come off a touring cycle and things reach that next tier from the band dynamically, it always informs the next thing you do.

GRANDUCIEL: In theory there is new music.

It’s nice to be home for a bit and sort of get into the flow of everything when you start making a new one. We’re always working, whether it’s mixing live stuff or recording a new song or whatever.

GRANDUCIEL: I worked on my last two records with Shawn Everett. And he’s producing Miley’s new album. And he called me one day, and I was taking my kid and his friend to an indoor playground in North Hollywood. And he was like, “Do you want to come over tonight and play on this Miley song?” And I was like, “Yeah, definitely.” And then on the way over, he was like, “I think it may be a Beyoncé thing too. I’m not really sure.”

But it was very quick and I played on two songs. But I kind of thought it was gonna be submitted as a song, and then they would redo my parts or whatever, you know? And then literally five weeks later, I saw that it was like a Beyoncé-Miley song. And I was in the parking lot on a Saturday night on Hollywood Boulevard at the studio, and it was like really loud. And I was like listening on my phone. I was like, “Is that the song?” And I was like, “Wait, that is the song I played on.” And I texted Shawn and I was like, “Did they redo my guitar?” He’s like, “No, that’s your guitar.” And I listened to it on the way home in my car and I was like, “This is amazing.” I couldn’t believe it.

Adam Granduciel, leader of the band The War on Drugs, poses for a portrait at his studio on Monday, Aug. 26, 2024, in Burbank, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Adam Granduciel, leader of the band The War on Drugs, poses for a portrait at his studio on Monday, Aug. 26, 2024, in Burbank, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Adam Granduciel, leader of the band The War on Drugs, poses for a portrait at his studio on Monday, Aug. 26, 2024, in Burbank, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Adam Granduciel, leader of the band The War on Drugs, poses for a portrait at his studio on Monday, Aug. 26, 2024, in Burbank, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Wall Street was mixed early Monday as optimism over a potentially big rate cut from the Federal Reserve this week boosted most sectors, with the exception of technology stocks.

Futures for the S&P 500 were unchanged before the bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked 0.2% higher. Futures for the technology-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 0.3%.

Apple was down 2.4% early, while chipmaker Micron was dragged down about 3%.

Stocks were broadly supported by the bond market, where Treasury yields eased ahead of the Fed’s meeting. The unanimous expectation on Wall Street is for the Fed to deliver the first cut to interest rates in more than four years on Wednesday, and traders are rekindling hopes it may offer bigger-than-usual relief.

Many economists would like to see the Fed announce a half-point rate cut this week, party because they think the officials should have begun cutting rates at their previous meeting in July. Wall Street traders on Friday signaled their expectation that the Fed will carry out at least two half-point cuts by year’s end, according to futures prices.

The Fed has been keeping its main interest rate at a two-decade high to slow the economy enough to stifle high inflation. With inflation having eased substantially from its peak two summers ago, the Fed has said it can focus more on bolstering the slowing job market and economy.

The Fed faces a balancing act in cutting rates. Lowering them relieves pressure on the economy but can also fuel more inflation. Reports last week showed some underlying upward pressure on prices. That initially pushed traders to ratchet back expectations for the size of the Fed’s upcoming move.

On Friday, though, traders were seeing roughly a coin flip’s chance that the Fed could deliver a large cut of half of a percentage point, instead of the more traditional quarter of a point, according to data from CME Group. The federal funds rate is currently sitting in a range of 5.25% to 5.50%.

Shares of Boeing were somewhat stable after Friday's decline, which was triggered by aircraft assembly workers who walked off the job. The ratings agency Fitch said a prolonged strike could lead to a ratings downgrade for the troubled aircraft manufacturer.

In Europe, France’s CAC 40 and Britain's FTSE 100 were flat at midday, while Germany’s DAX lost 0.2%.

In Asian trading, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng swung between gains and losses during the day, closing 0.3% higher at 17,422.12 after data released over the weekend showed China’s economy slowed further in August. Factory output, retail sales, and investment failed to meet expectations. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate unexpectedly surged to a six-month high, adding to challenges.

“The drums of a deepening economic slowdown are beating louder, and it’s time for China’s leadership to decide whether to step up or risk sliding further into stagnation,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.3% to 8,121.60.

Markets in Japan, mainland China and South Korea were closed for holidays.

In currency trading, the Japanese yen strengthened against the U.S. dollar, which fell to 140.03 yen from 140.82 yen. The dollar briefly dipped below 140 yen for the first time in more than a year. The euro cost $1.1124, inching up from $1.1076.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude gained 65 cents to $68.30 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 56 cents to $72.17 a barrel.

On Friday, the S&P 500 rose 0.5% for a fifth straight gain. It is just 0.7% below its all-time high set in July. Rallies for Microsoft, Broadcom and other big technology stocks helped it claw back almost all its recent losses, the worst in nearly 18 months.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.7% and the Nasdaq composite added 0.7%.

FILE - The American flag hangs from the front of the New York Stock Exchange on Sept. 10, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

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