RADAR REDUX: Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Thursday, March 11, 2010 at 11:18AM 
The long awaited third album -- now self-titled -- from fine, soulful Vermont jam-rockers Grace Potter and the Nocturnals and producer and writing collaborator Mark Batson (Maroon 5, Alicia Keys, Nas) has received a green light for a June 8 release via Hollywood Records. Batson is considered by some a fairly unorthodox choice considering his extensive work in the world of hip-hop and R+B and the oft-maligned 2005 Dave Matthews album Stand Up, but Potter disputes the naysayers. “I liked the idea of writing with someone who was totally not from my own world," she says. "We ended up writing one song after another – it was like we could read each other’s minds. He would build drum tracks, basslines and piano chords, and I would write the words and vocal melodies over the top. It was a natural progression, totally organic and magical."
The followup to the promising '07 album This Is Somewhere utilizes a revamped Nocturnals lineup: bassist Catherine Popper (Norah Jones, Ryan Adams) and guitarist Benny Yurco have joined, giving the crew "a new band buzz", says Potter. Among the new project's thirteen tracks are the politically shaded "Colors", the chuggin' barnburner "Medicine" (originally set to be album's title) and Batson collaborations "Tiny Light" (the upcoming lead single) and "Oasis." Potter and her Nocturals also contributed a version of the Jefferson Airplane nugget "White Rabbit" to Almost Alice, the companion album to Tim Burton's recent Alice In Wonderland film. Live vids for "Tiny Light" and "White Rabbit" after the jump.
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - "Tiny Light" (from the forthcoming self-titled album)
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - "Medicine" (live version, from the forthcoming self-titled album)
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals’ tracklisting:
1. Paris
2. Oasis
3. Medicine
4. Goodbye Kiss
5. Tiny Light
6. Colors
7. Only Love
8. Money
9. One Short Night
10. Low Road
11. That Phone
12. Hot Summer Night
13. Things I Never Needed
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