Rival Sons confirm Lightbringer album details, launch new single Sweet Life

Rival Sons group shot
(Image credit: Patrik Skoglöw)

Long Beach rockers Rival Sons have finally revealed the details of Lightbringer, the companion album to Darkfighter, which was released in June. The new album, which was announced in January, will arrive on October 20, and is preceded by a single, Sweet Life.

“It’s the most old-school Rival Sons song on either of these two records," says frontman Jay Buchanan. "It has all of the early elements of what Rival Sons is and was. It was born out of my love mid-sixties rock like The Animals, The Kinks, and the bands I was raised on. It’s a bit of a break from all of the heavy subject matter too; it’s a barnburner.”

Lightbringer was recorded during the same 2021 sessions as Darkfighter, with longtime producer Dave Cobb. 

"It started out as one album, and the collection grew too large,” Buchanan told Classic Rock, “so we had to split it because the mass was going to be too large. So we needed to partition the collection for there to be a short refractory period between the two."

Rival Sons Are currently on tour in The US with Smashing Pumpkins, and head to Europe in October. Full dates below.

Rival Sons: Lightbringer tracklist

  1. Darkfighter
  2. Mercy
  3. Redemption
  4. Sweet Life
  5. Before The Fire
  6. Mosaic

Rival Sons tour dates 2023 

Aug 19:  West Palm Beach iThink Financial Amphitheatre, FL*                       
Aug 20: Tampa MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, FL*                                
Aug 22: Charlotte PNC Music Pavilion, NC*                                 
Aug 24: Holmdel PNC Bank Arts Center, NJ*                                    
Aug 25: Gilford Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion NH*                                      
Aug 26: Montreal Theatre Beanfield, QC                           
Aug 27: Portland State Theatre, ME
Aug 29: Harrisburg XL Live, PA
Aug 30: Wantagh Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater, NY*
Aug 31: Bristow Jiffy Lube Live, VA*                                    
Sep 02: Toronto Budweiser Stage, ON*                             
Sep 03: Ottawa Canadian Tire Centre, ON*                              
Sep 06: McKees Rocks Roxian Theatre, PA                           
Sep 07: Knoxville The Mill & Mine, TN                                  
Sep 08: Franklin First Bank Amphitheater, TN*                                   
Sep 09: Noblesville Ruoff Music Center, IN*
Sep 23: Clarkston Riff Fest, MI^                               
Sep 25: Louisville Louder Than Life 2023, KY^                                   

Oct 13: London The Roundhouse, UK                                     
Oct 14: Newcastle NX, UK                                 
Oct 16: Glasgow Barrowland Ballroom, UK                                    
Oct 17: Birmingham O2 Academy, UK                               
Oct 18: Manchester Academy, UK                                
Oct 20: Cambridge Corn Exchange, UK
Oct 21: Bristol O2 Academy, UK
Oct 22: Southampton Guildhall, UK                              
Oct 24: Nantes La Carrière, France                                 
Oct 25: Lyon Le Radiant, France                                    
Oct 27: Paris Olympia, France                                    
Oct 28: Lausanne Les Docks, Switzerland                       
Oct 29: Milan Alcatraz, Italy                                       
Oct 31: Vienna Gasometer, Austria                                 
Nov 01: Zurich X-TRA, Switzerland                           
Nov 02: Munich Theaterfabrik, Germany                              
Nov 04: Prague Lucerna Music Bar, Czech Republic                      
Nov 05: Warsaw Klub Stodola, Poland                                 
Nov 06: Poznan Music Club B17, Poland                                  
Nov 08: Berlin Huxleys, Germany                                 
Nov 09: Amsterdam Melkweg Max, Netherlands                     
Nov 10: Cologne Kantine, Germany                              
Nov 12: Brussels Ancienne Belgique, Belgium                                 
Nov 13: Hamburg Grosse Freiheit 36, Germany                             
Nov 14: Copenhagen The Grey Hall, Denmark                         
Nov 16: Bergen Forum Scene, Norway                                   
Nov 17: Oslo Sentrum Scene, Norway                                        
Nov 18: Stockholm B-K, Sweden                               
Nov 20: Helsinki House of Culture, Finland
Nov 21: Tampere, Hall Finland 

* = supporting Smashing Pumpkins
^ = festival date 

Tickets are on sale now.

Fraser Lewry
Online Editor, Classic Rock

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 38 years in music industry, online for 25. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.