Toronto rocker Danko Jones has penned an article for The Toronto Star revealing how he has (and has not) coped with the pandemic over the last year. Following is an excerpt from the story.

Danko: "As our year slowly got cancelled, I became obsessed with vaccine tracking and treatment updates. I monitored fluctuating case numbers as if they were volatile stocks or baseball stats. Instead of taking advantage of a prolonged hiatus, I worried about vulnerable family members and if I’d ever set foot on stage again. Every day I’d eye the dusty stack of books next to my bed that I wanted to read, but pandemic anguish would paralyse me. I stopped listening to music and even sold more than 200 records. I wanted to enjoy movies I had been meaning to see, but I’d inevitably pick up my smartphone and get distracted by some social media thread and start arguing with anti-vaxxers and pandemic deniers.

All credit is due to my bandmate JC, who insisted we take this opportunity to make a record. Despite my every desire to remain immobile, I knew he was right and reluctantly picked up my guitar. It may sound corny, but writing riffs again, after months of inactivity, had a profound, positive effect on my mental state. The idea of attempting to make the best album of our careers took my mind off the pandemic.

Sending music files back and forth to one another in isolation, drummer Rich Knox, bassist JC and I channelled our lockdown frustration and angst into the songs. The result is our upcoming album, Power Trio (out August 27). I’m so proud of our effort because it’s the product of pushing back against the wall of fear, chiseling 11 songs that are powerful, resilient reactions to unprecedented circumstances. Songs like 'I Want Out', 'Let’s Rock Together' and 'Start the Show' need little explanation.

We still have a ways to go before things will feel truly back to normal, but if I can take away anything from this ordeal, it has reminded me how much I love playing music. My biggest fear now is that when I finally face a live audience again, out of sheer happiness, I’ll break down and cry like a baby."

Read the complete article here.

Danko Jones have released a video for their new single, "Saturday", which can be seen below. The track is the second single from the band's new album, Power Trio, out August 27.

The music video was directed (filmed, produced and edited) by Trevor Bowman at Bridgeworks in Hamilton, Ontario in March 2021. The track is an absolute banger with massive power-chord roars and just the right amount of edge. It's undeniably catchy and about so much more than just horndog confessions and sexual conquests. It's about the search for true, everlasting love. Danko (frontman) just wants to spend the evening curled up on the couch with his missus.

The full-throttle album, Power Trio, sees the band reunited with Canadian independent label Sonic Unyon Records, who issued the trio's first recordings and who will release the band's latest masterpiece in North America. Pre-orders are available here.

Power Trio sees Danko Jones delivering each engine-revving riff, soul-shaking stomp, and shout-it-loud hook with a sniper’s precision. It's such a simple, self-evident title, but one loaded with significance, as it speaks to the special triangular alchemy Danko shares with his trusty bass-slinging accomplice JC and drummer Rich Knox. It also stakes out the band’s place on a storied lineage of three-piece titans Jimi Hendrix Experience, ZZ Top, Rush, Motörhead, Venom, Dinosaur Jr., and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, to name a few.

When you choose to start a power trio, you’re not simply forming a band, you’re entering a blood pact - a tacit acknowledgement that all three members need to carry their equal share of the weight lest the whole enterprise collapse. There’s nowhere to hide in a power trio - no second guitarist to cover your mistakes, no keyboard player to smooth things over, no horn section to distract the crowd. If you fuck up, the whole band fucks up. Everybody needs to be on their A-game at all times.

Power Trio follows the band's electrifying, world charting album, A Rock Supreme released in 2019. It also sees the band once again tapping into the production prowess of Eric Ratz, who previously amped up the bone-breaking boogie of 2017's full-throttle rocker Wild Cat and 2015's bloodlusty Fire Music.

Tracklist:

"I Want Out"
"Good Lookin'"
"Saturday"
"Ship Of Lies"
"Raise Some Hell"
"Blue Jean Denim Jumpsuit"
"Get To You"
"Dangerous Kiss"
"Let’s Rock Together"
"Flaunt It"
"Start The Show" (feat. Phil Campbell)

"I Want Out"

"Flaunt It" lyric video: