Alison Mosshart releases second solo song 'It Ain't Water'

Today, Alison Mosshart (The Kills, The Dead Weather), shares her second solo song “It Ain’t Water,” and reveals details of the forthcoming 7-inch release on Domino Records. The vinyl release pairs this extraordinary new track with previously-released digital single “Rise,” available for pre-order now and set for physical release on July 31. “Rise,” her debut solo track recorded for FacebookWatch show Sacred Lies, was released in April to widespread critical acclaim.

• Watch the video for “It Ain’t Water” HERE
• Listen to “It Ain’t Water” HERE

Written late last year, "It Ain't Water" was recorded with Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, PJ Harvey). Mosshart had been sitting on the track for quite some time, and every time the singer found herself battling a bout of writer’s block, she’d pick up her guitar and sing it.

Alison on working with Alain Johannes: "Working with Alain on 'It Ain’t Water' was a blast. He’s such a talent and such a kind person. His mind is wide open. He understands and sees the beauty in imperfection, magic moments, accidents- the soulful human stuff, and the spirited super-human hard to explain stuff that makes a song great. Working with him was an honor, and also, hot damn he can play any instrument like a champ... like he invented the instrument himself. Alain Johannes IS music.”

Fierce and fiery, a no-nonsense firestarter, Alison Mosshart is hardly a stranger to taking chances. Best known as one-half of acclaimed duo The Kills, when she’s not moonlighting as Baby Ruthless, the gnarly lead singer of blues-punk foursome The Dead Weather, Mosshart is a forever moving force. Over the years she’s collaborated with everyone from her Dead Weather bandmate Jack White to the Arctic Monkeys, Primal Scream, Gang Of Four, Cage The Elephant, Foo Fighters, James Williamson and Mini Mansions. But her new and boldest move yet finds her embracing her solo bonafides.

For Mosshart, releasing music under her name is a new experience but an entirely thrilling one. It makes sense: Mosshart has been compiling a bank of unreleased music for more than a decade now. Back in 2013, Mosshart first wrote the initial sketch of “Rise,” which finds the singer intoning, “When the sky is falling/ and the sun is black/when the sky is coming down on ya/baby don’t look back/we will rise.” Recalls Mosshart: “I didn’t ever forget it. I remember right where I was when I wrote it, sitting at my desk in London, missing someone badly.” When the Sacred Lies team then sought out her skills for a signature song, she knew “Rise” had the right kind of vibe. “Rise” was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Lawrence Rothman.

Watch the video for “Rise” HERE

For a multi-disciplinary artist like Mosshart — whose paintings have been shown in galleries across the world, and who recently published her first book, CAR MA, a collection of her art, photography and writing that doubles as a love letter to automobiles — working on a variety of projects, now including her own music, is exactly how she likes it. Currently, she is working with Jamie Hince on the next Kills record and dreams of the day in the hopefully not so distant future, (pandemic-willing) when they’ll be back on the road with exciting new music to share.