BLUE OCTOBER's Approaching Normal Readies for March Date

MUSIC NEWS - BLUE OCTOBER has completed their anticipated new studio album, Approaching Normal. It's their follow-up to the '06 platinum release, Foiled and will be out via Universal . The first single, ???Dirt Room ???, which continues to build on the powerful melodic and lyrical strengths heard in the band???s albums and modern rock hits, ???Hate Me??? and ???Into the Ocean??? will hit the internet and radio stations soon. Lead singer, Justin Furstenfeld explains when asked about the lyrics of the new song ???it's too dark and personal, I don't think you can print that???, but adds, "It's about fighting back.....to put an END to those who think theycan hurt the ones you love.??? The full album, will be released onMarch 24, 2009and has beeneven more hotly anticipated since it was revealed thatSteve Lillywhite would produce the album at Pedernales Studio,near Austin, Texas. ???Steve is my all-time favorite producer,??? said Furstenfeld, of the finished album. ???He???s produced so many great albums for artists that are some of my biggest influences -- but especially Peter Gabriel???s third album[Peter Gabriel III(Melt) ] . For me, that???s it, my number one.??? And, sure enough, true to the influences of Lillywhite???s classic work, and the band???s own sterling body of work in the studio and on stage,Approaching Normal , from what we've heard, sounds like itwill surely deliver.

Blue October???s combination of darkness and light plays out in a song cycle that starts and ends in a fearless and unsparing high-tension trip (???Weight of the World,??? ???The End???), while ???Say It,??? ???Dirt Room,??? ???Been Down??? and ???Should Be Loved??? all achieve the emotional honesty and musical impact that???s the signature of the band. A wider world perspective emerges in ???Kangaroo Cry/Picking Up the Pieces,??? and in the philosophical ???Jump Rope,??? a sort of graduation song for ironic thinkers. In ???Blue Does,??? the sun comes out in honor of a young life.

Last summer, before recording began on the new album, Stephenie Meyer, the author of theTwiligh t saga of best-selling teen novels and current blockbuster motion picture, invited Justin Furstenfeld to join her on a unique late-summer four-date concert series developed to launch the release ofBreaking Dawn , the latest and last novel of the series. Meyer became a fan of Justin???s and Blue October after hearing their singles on the radio and subsequently discovered the emotional impact of the lyrics through the band???s album. Equally inspired, Justin went on to write the song, ???My Never,??? which he then debuted on the tour to an overwhelmingly enthusiastic reaction by theTwilight fans.

Steve Lillywhite is a five-time Grammy Award winner, including Producer of the Year in 2005. Beside his long-standing creative relationship with U2, he has worked on albums by Dave Matthews Band, Jason Mraz, Phish, Morrissey, Talking Heads, Simple Minds and many others. Blue October is/are; Justin Furstenfeld, vocals; CB Hudson III, guitars/vocals; Ryan Delahoussaye, violin/mandolin/piano/vocals; Matt Noveskey, bass/vocals; Jeremy Furstenfeld: drums/vocals. More on the band and new release when the full album is available. Stay tuned !!