Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson has just dropped “Liar” — the first single from his new band Envy Of None's self-titled debut. Rolling Stone reported the band also features bassist Andy Curran, singer-songwriter Maiah Wynne, and producer Alfio Annibalini. Their Envy Of None album is set for release on April 8th.
Lifeson spoke about the band and album in a statement, explaining, “Maiah became my muse. She was able to bring this whole new ethereal thing through her sense of melody on tracks like 'Liar' and 'Look Inside.' I’ve never had that kind of inspiration working with another musician. When we say she’s special, it’s because she’s really f***ing special!”
He went on to shed light on the album's finale titled “Western Sunset,” which was inspired by his late-bandmate, Rush drummer Neil Peart: “I visited Neil when he was ill. I was on his balcony watching the sunset and found inspiration. There’s a finality about a sunset that kinda stayed with me throughout the whole process. It had meaning. It was the perfect mood to decompress after all these different textures . . . a nice way to close the book.”
Despite the support of key cities like Cleveland, radio play was rare for Rush during the first six or seven years of the group's career. Alex Lifeson told us that this led Rush to focus on a long-term career rather than hits: “In the early years, radio had very, very little interest in us. It really wasn't until 'The Spirit Of Radio,' 'Tom Sawyer' that we started to get any kind of half-decent airplay. And it was never an issue with us — we were more concerned about the album itself and doing it the way we believed it should be done, and not making any compromises to get a hit single.”
