The Avett Brothers appeared on Minnesota public radio station The Current on Friday to perform songs from their new album The Third Gleam.
Also released on Friday, The Third Gleam finds brothers Seth and Scott Avett scaling back operations and reverting to a brotherly acoustic duo, sometimes joined by upright bassist Bob Crawford. The album comes as the third installment of The Gleam series, which saw its first release in 2006 and second in 2008.
Before a blank red background, Seth and Scott lead off with “Back Into The Light“, the final single released from The Third Gleam just days ahead of the album’s arrival. The song hits on many familiar themes in the Avett’s music and rings with their classic sound that fans were hoping for on the roots-focused record. Next up was “Victory“, the first single released from The Third Gleam. The song offers a contemplation on what it means to win and lose, as well as some prescient reflections on the nature of fame and success.
Finally, the session wraps up with “Prison To Heaven”, which didn’t see a release prior to the album. The song, which also features bassist Bob Crawford, finds some much more cheerful songwriting than the previous two selections. While “Victory” and “Back Into The Light” did showcase the acoustic-minded songwriting that fans have been clamoring for in recent years, “Prison To Heaven” show that songs written in that style don’t just have to be dour compositions. Rather the song provides some of Seth and Scott’s trademark wit that only brothers can share.
“The interesting thing with the ‘Gleam’ series is that it’s like songs that are made in somewhat of a quieter, more sacred space, if you will,” Scott Avett said in an interview with Jill Riley on The Current. “The record was made on its own time, before the pandemic and before the rolling out of these long-lasting social injustices that we’re witnessing.”
“Although,” Avett continued, “in hindsight, we were — I don’t know what the word is — it was somewhat surreal to realize how applicable the thing was.”
Watch The Avett Brothers perform songs from The Third Gleam on The Current.
The Avett Brothers – “Back Into The Light”, “Victory”, “Prison To Heaven”
[Video: The Current]