One Less Reason

One Less Reason deliver deep, meaningful hard rock on their fourth album, Faces & Four Letter Words. Available June 14th, 2011 via Arsenic Records, Faces & Four Letter Words crescendos from gritty and gruff anthems like the first single "Faces" to poignant, poetic ballads such as "Where Did You Go?" On songs like the hard-hitting "What You Are" and grandiose "The Distance," there's a memory or story behind every riff, chorus, bass groove, and guitar solo. One Less Reason—Cris Brown (Vocals), Brad Butler (Lead Guitar), Jerry Bailey (Rhythm Guitar), Jeff Moore (Drums), Terry Brown (Bass)—write the soundtrack to life on Faces & Four Letter Words. The album follows up a landmark year for the Jackson, Tennessee quartet. Since forming in 2003, One Less Reason released four albums independently and burned up stages alongside everyone from Shinedown and Seether to OneRepublic and Fuel. The band initially released Faces & Four Letter Words independently in August of 2010, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. Further cementing their presence, One Less Reason cumulatively exceeded digital sales of 400,000 without a label infrastructure behind them. In December 2010, the band hunkered down in Rivergate Studios with 3 Doors Down's Chris Henderson behind the board. They re-recorded Faces & Four Letter Words and added some gems spanning their career, solidifying their proper debut. Brown and Co. constructed the album around a unique concept. The singer began writing in the album in 2008 and took his time with each note, lyric, and melody. "It took me two years to write and record Faces & Four Letter Words," explains Brown. "Up to that point, I had written all of my records about the relationship I was in. That relationship was over, and my life was completely different. I sat down and thought, 'Over the last five years of my life, the faces have all changed, but the emotions are still the same.' There's a four letter word for each one of those feelings, and those words are the strongest adjectives. That's where the whole concept of the record came from. The people around us change, but the emotions are always the same and they almost always come back to a four letter word—love, hate, pain, hope, or whatever your four letter word is." The album's first single "Faces" illuminates that concept. With an infectious chorus and corrosively catchy guitar melody, the song pulsates with arena-ready prowess. "Faces" hit radio this past February, gaining spins across the country, and also landed the promo spots for the premiere of CSI: Miami due to its undeniable urgency. Brown reveals, "I wrote that song as a letter to myself and to the people who listen to the music. One Less Reason songs typically start with a lyric that everybody can relate to. We're more lyrically heavy than we are musically heavy, and there's always a message. It's all based around those four letter words." Working with Henderson, the band really captured those four letter words viscerally during the re-recording of the album. Brown adds, "Chris is very thorough in his quest of what he's looking for and he's a monster at guitar tones. He knew what our sound was and he didn't try to make it something it wasn't. He let us be who we are and got the best sounds possible. You can hear it in the end result." Every emotion resounds loud and clear in the powerful "Where Did You Go?" The album's centerpiece rolls from vulnerable acoustic guitar into a soaring hook. "I wrote that song for me," recalls Brown. "It seemed like for a minute I lost who I was in search of trying to find somebody else. Sometimes, you'll change who you are to be in a relationship. I'm encouraging myself to come back to who I used to be." The stage is set for One Less Reason to continue impacting each and every listener that hears Faces & Four Letter Words. Brown concludes, "As long as you put out quality records, that's all that matters. I made the band as big as it would get independently. I couldn't do it anymore out of my house. Working with Arsenic is the next step in our career. This is our chance to get out there and do what we do. We'll always put out music that's honest and filled with emotion. On Faces & Four Letter Words, fans are going to find the same honest lyrics and passion. I want people to feel the record more so than hear it. That's been the case for all records so far. Hopefully, we hit the mark again this one and people are going to be able to walk away with a four letter word of their own." What's your four letter word?