Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan blasts clickbait and media sensationalism on his folky new song “Chip Away.” “Talking heads are making dollars/It’s like doing crack day after day,” he sings over acoustic strums and back-porch violin, later throwing out a reference to the Flat Earth movement (“I hear it often nowadays/The Earth is flat or so they say”).
“‘Chip Away’ is somewhat of a rail against cable news and divisive agendas…all for the almighty dollar,” McKagan said in a statement. “The song also highlights the fact that history repeats itself over and over, and that we will all get past this, together.”
The song appears on McKagan’s upcoming solo LP, the Shooter Jennings-produced Tenderness, out May 31st via UMe. “Chip Away” follows his recently issued title track, and both are available as instant downloads by ordering the album.
The singer-songwriter will promote Tenderness — the “musical follow-up” to his 2015 book, How to Be a Man (and Other Illusions) — on a brief U.S. tour. The 11-date trek, which features Jennings as part of his backing band, launches May 30th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and wraps June 16th in Seattle, Washington.
Prior to the tour, McKagan and Jennings will perform and discuss the record during a special appearance at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, California on April 4th.
Tenderness Track List
1. “Tenderness”
2. “It’s Not Too Late”
3. “Wasted Heart”
4. “Falling Down”
5. “Last September”
6. “Chip Away”
7. “Cold Outside”
8. “Feel”
9. “Breaking Rocks”
10. “Parkland”
11. “Don’t Look Behind You”