Talk This Way Podcast [E8]: Adam Masterson

The alt-rock upstart details the making of his upcoming album ‘Time Bomb’

On the latest episode of the Talk This Way Podcast, we caught up with budding alt-rocker Adam Masterson to talk about his forthcoming album Time Bomb. Masterson begin to piece the project together in early 2020. Now, the ambitious new outing arrives tomorrow.

The record began to take shape after Masterson attended a friend’s show.

“The beginnings of it in my mind happened after I went to a gig in King’s Cross at The Lexington,” Masterson recalls. “I met this guy at the bar and he said he had a studio in Richmond upon Thames, and I knew exactly where that was because I had grown up really close to that spot. So, we sort of exchanged numbers and a little time after that I was back in London and I went up to meet with this chap who’s called James Hallawell and we started initially having an idea to perhaps write together, but then I started playing him my songs and he got interested in what I had in the can and wanted to start recording them.”

Masterson would go on to work with a stable of producers, mixing engineers, and musicians. He recorded tracks in New York City and London. Masterson wrote the album’s title track alone in a studio just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Now, nearly four years later, the labor has produced a fine piece of art rock.

Watch the full chat above to hear Masterson talk about the recording process, making a connection with the listener, and much more.

Standing at his own juncture between English panache, heartland empathy, gospel ambition, and pop prowess, the West London-born and New York-based singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist brings a rock ‘n’ roll edge to pop as beautifully captured on Time Bomb. 

Masterson produced all tracks on the album with a who’s who of co-producers and mix engineers including James Hallawell (The Waterboys/Graham Parker), Tchad Blake (The Black Keyes, Sheryl Crow), Sean Genocky (The Black Crowes, Richard Ashcroft), Ron Saint Germain (Soundgarden, 311), Dave O’Donnell (James Taylor, Keith Richards), Craig Dreyer (Pete Francis, Dispatch), and Paul Stacey (Oasis, The Black Crowes).

Performing alongside Masterson throughout the songs is an all-star bevy of high-profile musical collaborators such as Charlie Jones (Goldfrapp, Robert Plant & Jimmy Page), Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols) and Brett Bass (Gregg Allman) on bass, Leo Abrahams (Paolo Nutini, Regina Spektor) and David Rhodes (Peter Gabriel, Scott Walker) on guitars, Charlie Drayton (The Cult, Divinyls), Jeremy Stacey (King Crimson, Ryan Adams) and Omar Hakim (David Bowie, Journey) on drums, Peter Tickell (Sting) on mandolin and violin, and Rob Clores (Jesse Malin, Charli XCX) and Ben Stivers (Lyle Lovett, Matchbox Twenty) on piano, among others.

Masterson’s new 12-song collection, the follow-up to his 2020 EP, Delayed Fuse, and his influential full-length debut album, One Tale Too Many (2003). The album is available tomorrow HERE. To celebrate the album’s release, Masterson is playing a special record release show tonight at the Bitter End in New York City. Tickets are available now HERE.