The String Cheese Incident album artwork. Photo provided.
The String Cheese Incident album artwork. Photo provided.

Produced by Jerry Harrison, keyboardist and guitarist for the Talking Heads, and The Modern Lovers

The String Cheese Incident is set to release Believe on Friday, April 14 via SCI Fidelity Records.

String Cheese worked with PledgeMusic to provide additional forms of interactive content to pick up along with the album. Review the album and check out a stream of the album with AllMusic.com.

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  • The album Believe by The String Cheese Incident revamps the sound of the Colorado bluegrass band with an edge of New Wave by producer Jerry Harrison.
  • This record marks the twenty year anniversary from the album release of Born on the Wrong Planet. After twenty five years of publishing, bands can be considered for the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

Side A:

The self titled track to Believe kicks off with a high altitude form of Colorado alternative rock. Jerry Harrison, producer for Believe, can be felt more on the title track in comparison to other tracks in my view. This song has an impressive keyboard solo by Kyle Hollingsworth.

‘Sweet Spot’ is one of my favorite String Cheese Incident songs of all time. Hazel Miller adds vocals to the track. Her soulful vocals balance well with Sheryl Renee.

‘My One and Only’ starts off with a slow pace, but picks up into a Celtic bluegrass form of String Cheese music. Bonnie Paine, vocals, washboard, djembe, musical-saw, and stomp-box for Elephant Revival, adds vocals to this classic track. Her voice works well for this song.

‘Down a River’ is a slower song. It helps mix up the different energy levels for the album. The lyrics may have alternative meanings, but I find this track to be melancholy.

The introduction to some String Cheese Incident songs starts in a live setting. For the song ‘Get Tight,’ I first experienced it live at Hulaween 2016. The recording is below on YouTube. After hearing it live, I looked forward to seeing how the band would produce it the SCI Sound Lab in Boulder, Colorado. The studio mix is another classic track to an amazing album.

Side B:

‘Stop Drop Roll’ turns up the heat to start off the second side to the vinyl album. I’ll be honest, Side A is more my style, but during second and third listens, I find myself digging these songs more and more.

On the track ‘Flying’ it reminds me of slow dance music. It has some influence from The Beatles on vocals and guitar in my view. Similar in some ways to ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.’ The guitar solo on the track is done well.

One of the tracks that missed the mark for me was ‘So Much Fun.’ I think that there is an audience for this song, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. When I was thinking of how I would spice it up, the thought of adding Robert Randolph on steel pedal guitar popped in my mind. If the band wants to step in the pop music genre, I suggest producing an album with Robert Randolph to give it a unique pop/alternative sound.

The album ends with a heater titled ‘Beautiful.’ The upbeat tracks gives room for Michael Kang to shine on vocals. The drumming between Jason Hann and Michael Travis is exceptional on this ending track.

The band is set to have a release party at Stubb’s in Austin on April 14.

This summer they will headline Electric Forest and Mountain Jam Festival before performing three nights at Red Rocks on July 21-23.

Stay connected with the band on social media for updates.

The String Cheese Incident feat. Tyler Grant - Get Tight