Influences range from Pete Seeger to Kendrick Lamar.
Band of Horses has announced its first album in nearly four years.
Why Are You OK?, out June 10, is named after a question that the eldest daughter of frontman Ben Bridwell, then age 3, once asked her teacher. ("I just thought it was the most hilarious thing to ask or say,” Ben says to Entertainment Weekly.) Yet the latest material by Band of Horses also seems curious because of its wide-ranging influences. The band names Peter La Farge's "Coyote, My Little Brother," as popularized by Pete Seeger, as one. OutKast's 2014 reunion is another, as well as Kendrick Lamar's "Backseat Freestyle" (Ben says he "fucking lost it" the first time he heard it).
Moreover, Why Are You OK? is executive produced by Rick Rubin. While the famed producer got his start in hip-hop, with his founding work with hip-hop pioneers like LL Cool J and Beastie Boys, he has since worked with bands ranging from Red Hot Chili Peppers to the Avett Brothers.