UNCHAINED
Portrait: Justin Borucki
Jerry Cantrell thinks of records as time capsules. Whether as the leader and chief songwriter of Alice In Chains or as a solo artist, he says each of his releases represents a period of time “etched in wax”. From AIC’s game-changing early-90s releases – albums that reshaped the rock landscape – to the acoustic-tinged EPs that punctuated their heavier moments, to the sonic exploration of his solo work, for Cantrell every one of them occupies a different head-space and era. It’s the same with his new solo album Brighten, the first record under his own name since 2002’s Degradation Trip Volumes 1 & 2. “I’m just trying to make the best record I can for a particular time,” he says.
How has the past year and a half been for you?
You know, probably like everybody else, vacillating between “What the fuck?” and the reality that we all have to deal with and try to help each other get through it.