Ahead of the tour, the band will release two singles — Kramer’s first new music as MC5 since 1972 — previewing a full album on Ear Music scheduled for October 2022. Both songs were produced by the iconic Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd, Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, KISS) and engineered by 4x Grammy winner Dave Way (Paul McCartney, Fiona Apple, Neil Young) at his studio The Waystation. Ear Music is home to Deep Purple, Def Leppard, Helmet, Joe Satriani, Foreigner, Joe Henry, Marianne Faithfull, and others. Last year, Alice Cooper's Ear Music album Detroit Stories, for which Kramer co-wrote songs and performed, topped Billboard's Top Album Sales chart.
The guitar-dueling anthem “Heavy Lifting” is the A-side featuring Tom Morello, Don Was, Abe Laboriel Jr, with lead vocals by Brooks, and was co-written by Kramer, Morello, and Brooks. The B-side “Edge of the Switchblade” reimagines Kramer’s tribute to the MC5’s formative years, first heard on his acclaimed 1995 Epitaph solo album The Hard Stuff, in a new recording with Laboriel, Was, and special guest William Duvall from Alice in Chains sharing lead vocal duties with Kramer. Together, the songs serve as bookends to illustrate where Kramer comes from (“Edge of the Switchblade”) and where his creative vision for the MC5 is today (“Heavy Lifting”).
