Whitney Tai has today released her new album titled ‘American Wasteland’. Featuring musician, producer, and songwriter Tommy Hatz, Bassist Chuck Wright, and Multi-Instrumentalist Michael Rozon, this is an album that feels like a concept album, which tells a lucid tale woven into an intricate soundtrack. Conceptual for the intellectual. Smart at heart and young in eternity.
Starting with a track left of center, ‘Perfect Storm’ is that track that hits you with that first note. Not what you would expect for an album opener, but everything you demand from your next favorite album. Taking you into a different universe and straight into the title track. By this time, you don’t know what to expect, and you just let the music take the wheel and let that inhibition drop. Now your ears are open and you are listening and not hearing.
And that is the brilliance of ‘American Wasteland’. By the time it’s over, you feel different. Hopefully better, but definitely fulfilled. ‘American Wasteland’ is not a showcase for Whitney’s amazing vocals. It is a stage for a story that could be yours, yet relates to all.
About ‘American Wasteland’
Whitney teamed up with renowned photographer Joseph Cultice to create thought-provoking images on the eerie beauty of nature needing to reclaim the metropolitan decay for the rollout of American Wasteland. A sensual and haunting music video for one of the album’s recent singles, “Slumber Party,” which American Songwriter elaborates is, “releasing past trauma, grief and taking charge of one’s mind was part of the notion behind the second single”… “her lyrics are blueprints from principles in design and philosophy.”
In recent news, Tai has signed with powerhouse sync agency, Position Music. In June, a duet with South Africa’s leading Goth frontman, Ashton Nyte (The Awakening), and LA’s Beauty In Chaos on their song, “Made Of Rain” (Almost Acoustic Version) surfaced after several collabs with the LA collective. She has also proudly partnered with 1ShotEnergy to educate the public about vocal health and performance products.
“American Wasteland” combines various musical styles to create a unique and immersive listening experience. Her lyrics are seeds scattered across a barren earth, each word taking root in your mind and pushing through layers of doubt and pain. As the album progresses, these seedlings of resilience stretch skyward, unfurling leaves of understanding, transforming the wasteland into a vibrant ecosystem so that even the harshest environments can nurture the most beautiful metamorphoses.
The album features a special collaboration with Oaklands, Nahhdahh on track 6, as well as a reimagining of Alice In Chains’ 1992 song, “Brother” off the Sap EP featuring Jerry Cantrell’s right-hand pedal steel wizard, Michael Rozon. Rozon’s pedal steel work can be heard throughout the album, weaving the dreamy, open road into its eclectic pop-rock aesthetic.
About Whitney Tai
NYC born. Yonkuhz, in fact. Whitney Tai is a songwriter, vocalist, and poet. Her music is inspired by her passion for nature. A lover of dogs, cats, and cows, her music is an aural medicine, healing the emotionally and spiritually wounded. At age 7, her first live performance was the hit by 4 Non Blondes, “What’s Up?” with her father playing guitar. She studied at NYSID and worked in Architectural Design while writing and performing her music in NYC.
After moving to Los Angeles in 2018, Music Connection Magazine named Tai one of the best live bands in Los Angeles after signature performances at iconic Hollywood venues The Whiskey, The Viper Room, The Mint, and The Improv. She was also named Best Vocalist at the 2021 ICMA awards.
Tai has released two full albums, Apogee and Metamorphosis, both of which have a unique symphonic pop-rock sound. Her musical collaborations include several diverse projects, such as Beauty in Chaos, Julian Beeston, Brenda Carsey, Harry Vato, Sunfreakz, and multi-platinum artist Chuck Wright.
In 2023, Tai’s duo project, BLAKTAI, released a cover version of “All Night” by the band Low. After hearing the BLAKTAI version of “All Night”, Alan Sparhawk commented on the cover, “soars to new heights and horizons.”
2025 will see the release of her 3rd full-length album, American Wasteland. Tai wrote and recorded her forthcoming album between 2021 and 24. It was a tumultuous period in her life. She experienced the death of her father and the end of a long-term relationship. American Songwriter remarks on the album, “Tai creates a control tower for the soul.”
What is the Wasteland, you ask? It’s losing your mother when you’re 10 years old. It’s surviving the emotional paralysis of abuse and heartbreak. It’s a jaw-breaking bicycle ride. It’s economic, immoral, and political decay. It’s the exploitation of nature by placing a dollar sign on every tree. It’s human beings being reduced to a commodity. It’s a heartbeat under the pain that refuses to die. We are fatigued, but hopeful as Tai lifts the veil with American Wasteland.
SOURCE: Official Bio
About Tommy Hatz
Somehow, I manage to keep surviving. I see the world as a dark and unwelcoming place. A wasteland beyond arbitrary sovereign borders. But there is beauty and love to be found. I first found that love in music. I have more years to look back upon than life to look forward to, but music has always been there for me, and I expect it always will. While there are people in my life that I love very deeply and dearly, I believe that music is the reason that I survive.
During a particularly dark time in the world, Whitney and I found each other, and together we created what I believe to be a defining body of work. That goes beyond any words that I can say. Tommy Hatz (Tom Hatziemanouel) is a professional songwriter, producer, and musician. Best known as a long-time member of the band Professional Murder Music. Tom’s career began as a guitarist for Michael Graves’ first post-Misfits outing, “Graves”. He has also collaborated with artists such as Chuck Wright (Quiet Riot, Alice Cooper), Patrick Droney, and Jimmy Gnecco (Ours).
SOURCE: Official Bio
Images by Joseph Cultice
LINKS:
https://www.instagram.com/whitneytai/
https://www.facebook.com/WhitneyTaiMusic/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCazKu-G82KhrvCpRiHDiCg
https://whitneytai.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1mYgR7qRLUdTNAM8ZNP34R
