American metalcore band Atreyu will release “The Pronoia Sessions,” a new collection of eight reimagined greatest hits and two covers, in fall 2024 via Spinefarm Records. The digital release is set for Oct. 25, while vinyl and CDs will be available Nov. 8. Pre-orders can be found here.
“This album, to us, was something that initially came from the fans,” the band said. “During COVID, we started toying around with doing acoustic performances for the first time in our career. Since the release of ‘Gone (Reimagined),’ the outpouring of love and interest from our fans was overwhelming. It got us thinking . ..what if we didn’t just make some of our classics acoustic, what if we took them to a whole new place? We feel with this album we have carved out a new home for these songs to stand on their own. They are new entities in our musical landscape.
“Making this album brought us such a sense of joy and creativity. It was as if the universe handed us this moment and it was meant to happen … hence, ‘The Pronoia Sessions.'”
In recognition of what would have been Chris Cornell’s 60th birthday on July 20, Atreyu has shared the album’s first single, a cover of Audioslave’s ‘Like a Stone.'”
“The covers on this album presented us with the opportunity to take some of our favorites and make them our own,” the band said. “The album has an overarching, somber feel. We wanted songs that would stay in that realm. ‘Like a Stone’ is one of the most iconic rock songs of our time. Chris Cornell’s vocal is a treasure. We hope to have done right by his legacy.”
The genesis of “The Pronoia Sessions” stretches back to a series of acoustic performances at special events on the road.
“We had the idea to do a show similar to Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged as a one-off thing,” frontman Brandon Saller said. “Then we thought, ‘Why not spend some time on it in the studio?’ And it built from there. ‘How far can we push this?’ It spawned from there and unexpectedly turned into this monster.”
‘The Pronoia Sessions’ track list:
1) Becoming the Bull (Reimagined)
2) Save Us (Reimagined)
3) Ex’s & Oh’s (Reimagined)
4) Right Side of the Bed (Reimagined)
5) Like a Stone (Audioslave Cover)
6) Drowning (Reimagined)
7) The Theft (Reimagined)
8) Gone (Reimagined)
9) Warrior (Reimagined)
10) Mary Jane’s Last Dance (Tom Petty Cover)
The songs reimagined on the album stretch back to 2004’s “The Curse” (“Right Side of the Bed”) and 2006’s “A Death-Grip on Yesterday” (“Ex’s & Ohs,” “The Theft”). Two of Atreyu’s biggest hits, “Warrior” and “Save Us,” are reworked from 2021’s “Baptize.” And there are new versions of “Gone” and “Drowning” from its most recent release, 2023’s “The Beautiful Dark of Life.”
In addition to its own songs, Atreyu offers dark takes on Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ classic “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” and the enduring, Chris Cornell-led Audioslave ballad “Like a Stone.”
“Let’s see how we can take what exits already and turn it on its head. With some of the older stuff, the vocals have a more melodic approach, but with much of the same phrasing,” Saller said. “We’ve also incorporated more members of the band. Porter sings, like on ‘Ex’s & Ohs.’ On ‘Right Side of the Bed,’ there’s a saxophone solo instead of a guitar solo, and it’s Dan playing the saxophone.”
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