John Rooney Releases Star-Studded New Album JOY, Out Now

For the first time in the US, Australian rocker John Rooney has unleashed a stunning new album, Joy, that combines his razor-sharp jangle pop songcraft with a star-studded cast of session musicians. The results are a vibrant record that breathes with an absolutely timeless urgency.

Recorded at Studio 606 in Los Angeles on the legendary Sound City Neve Console (used by Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac, Dr. John, Pat Benatar, and Nirvana), Joy represents a tremendous leap forward in John Rooney's songwriting. Rustic, soulful, and endlessly searching in his observational wit, John's skill is complemented beautifully by the powerful production of Don Dixon (R.E.M.), whose elegant touch at the recording console gives the record a bright, driving, yet emotionally rich sonic palette - a lush mix of groovy soul and jangle pop.

The all-star cast of session musician collaborators on Joy lend tremendous energy and studio finesse to the record: Spooner Oldham (Neil Young, Linda Ronstadt, Joe Cocker) and Benmont Tench (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) provide keyboards, Chris Chaney (Jane's Addiction) and Don Was (Was, (Not Was)) hold down bass in a powerful rhythm section with drummer Jim Keltner (Joe Cocker, Harry Nilsson), with Rusty Anderson (Sir Paul McCartney) and Mitch Easter (Mix engineer, R.E.M.'s Murmur, Reckoning) howling on electric guitar. With John's sweet and intimate vocal style at the helm, the band produce a staggering sonic journey of both epic and devastatingly human proportions.

Lead single, "All Over The World" is the perfect entry-point into Rooney's instantly classic sound world. Pairing a driving beat and gently thumping bass with shimmering waves of guitar, John's evocative lyrics find solace in the everyday search for truth, finding peace as it winds through grand horn arrangements and an absolutely angelic chorus. That mood of soft transcendence, of being lifted and taken to new, warm heights and perspectives, never lets up over the course of Joy. Emotional surrender has never sounded so sweet.

Joy is out now on all platforms.

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