An elegant intimate upheaval, Durand Jones & The Indications’ beautiful “Love Will Work It Out” injects smoldering soul into stirring reflections on life, loss, pain, and perseverance.
“Love Will Work It Out” – Durand Jones & The Indications
We marched, protested, cried, wiped down our groceries, stopped wiping down our groceries, unplugged, breathed, replugged, reengaged. And when music finally flowed, the first song we wrote together was ‘Love Will Work It Out.’
It’s not always easy to choose love over hate, or to hold onto hope when all hope seems lost. The past year has been an especially trying time for many of us, but as we begin to emerge from COVID-19 lockdowns and life returns to a new normal this summer, Durand Jones & The Indications have unveiled a song to remind us of both the pain and suffering we’ve endured, as well as the power and strength of community, faith, and above all else, love: An elegant intimate upheaval, the astonishingly beautiful “Love Will Work It Out” injects smoldering soul into stirring reflections on life, loss, pain, and perseverance.
As I roamed across this land
And felt the pulse of every heart of every man
I sang some songs to heal some souls
Lookin’ back it felt so very long ago
Folks overtaken by disease
All the people lost made me fall right down to my knees
All I could do is cry and shout
I knew I had to trust the faith that love would work it out
Joy will set us free
If you do believe
So don’t you ever doubt
That love will work it out
Released June 8, 2021 via Dead Oceans (in association with Colemine Records), “Love Will Work It Out” is the second single off Durand Jones & The Indications’ forthcoming third album Private Space, out July 30, 2021. First teased by the pulsing, heated discotheque-ready lead single “Witchoo” this May, Private Space follows the band’s heavily lauded 2019 album American Love Call – highlighting the vocal prowess of Durand Jones (vocals) and Aaron Frazer (drums/vocals) alongside the finessed talent and sheer expertise of Blake Rhein (guitar), Steve Okonski (keys), and Mike Montgomery (bass).
Hailed by the band as providing for “both an escapist fantasy and a much-needed re-centering after a tumultuous 2020,” Private Space is many things all at once: A lament of loss and a celebration of life; a protest record and a soundtrack to personal reflection and inner reckoning – and through it all, Durand Jones & The Indications maintain that high caliber, expressive and emotive soul sound they have long embodied and embraced.
All the people lost made me fall right onto my knees… all I could do was cry and shout… I knew I had to trust the faith that love would work it out…
“Love Will Work It Out” is a particularly special song – not only as a part of this new album, but also for its meaning and the message it projects out into the world. A song not so much of surrender, as it is of faith – the belief in a higher order; in humanity; in the good within us all – “Love Will Work It Out” captures the pain of every Black man, woman, and child’s life lost at the cruel hands of the police; it aches with the lack of justice for those murdered, and the ongoing need for a massive overhaul of the system; and it radiates hope for a better, brighter future: Hope that this work is not in vein, and that all that work is a means to a meaningful end. Jones sings, his voice heavy as he dwells in bittersweet musings over the past year:
I got so down being alone
Watching modern day lynchings
in the streets that I called home
I felt so helpless in the strife
But I knew I had to trust the faith
that love would make it right
Joy will set us free
If you do believe
So don’t you ever doubt
That love will work it out
“For months into the pandemic and the racial/political chaos that ensued, we found it hard to write,” The Indications tell Atwood Magazine. “The biggest creative dry spell we’d experienced in a decade. The constant barrage of horrible news felt overwhelming, and songs just seemed inadequate in response to police murdering people in broad daylight. Songs felt inadequate in the face of a virus that decimated communities and kept us apart from our loved ones.”
“We marched, protested, cried, wiped down our groceries, stopped wiping down our groceries, unplugged, breathed, replugged, reengaged. And when music finally flowed, the first song we wrote together was ‘Love Will Work It Out.’ Because conflict and confrontation require bravery, AND so does keeping the faith in the goodness of one another. It’s a big part of what so many people are fighting for – the benefit of the doubt, the ability to be seen as whole, the space to love and trust.”
It’s been a tough year, but we’ve come out the other side steady and hopeful.
Every moment of “Love Will Work It Out” resonates with a stirring, dramatic, and emphatic weight; from the deep throb of Mike Montgomery’s bass, to the cinematic soaring strength of Jones and Aaron Frazer’s combined vocals, the song transforms any moment into a safe space into which we can pour our feelings – many still unresolved to this day. Some may find in this song their own inner strength to soldier on and keep fighting the good fight; others may use it as a reminder to find balance, in however and whatever way you need. No matter how you interpret Jones’ lyrics, the fact remains that “Love Will Work It Out” makes us all feel something inside – and what more can a band ask for, than to move its audience?
Durand Jones & The Indications’ Private Space is out at the end of July, but don’t wait for the album’s release to reconnect with this singular soul phenomenon. Lose (and find) yourself in the thick passions of “Love Will Work It Out,” out now.
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“Love Will Work It Out” – Durand Jones & The Indications
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