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Mrs. Henry, an up-and-coming rock ‘n’ roll band based in southern California, will release a new album Oct. 20. With a name derived from a Bob Dylan song and a sound to intrigue, the band looks forward to what is to come.
The leading single on the album, “I Don’t Want to Let You Go,” includes complicated concepts and sets the stage for the rest of the album.
“It’s a really confusing song,” said Blake Dean, the Mrs. Henry bass guitarist. “To play and perform, it’s really exciting, and it’s a bit manic and schizophrenic.”
Mrs. Henry’s rock opera “Keep On Rising” includes three acts in three albums — the first of which is called “The Sex Sells, Love Drugs, Rock N Roll Society” and will be released Oct. 20. They hit the ground running with “Peace, Love, Rock N Roll” as the first single from the album paired with a video produced and directed by members of the band. Members said “I Don’t Want to Let You Go” serves as the identification of the rock opera’s main character. It also includes the alphabet backwards and has points with 15 voices at once.
The remaining two acts of “Keep On Rising” will be put out in 2022, though the main recording process is finished.
Mrs. Henry recorded all their tracks using analog equipment, and they adopted a hybrid approach to mixing the rock opera. As each song was recorded, they sent the digital stems to their mixing engineer. That way, the albums were recorded and mixed simultaneously, which shortened the production process immensely and allowed for a sooner release.
“On top of the analog having a really pure sound and having its own interesting coloring of tones, it also demands that you commit and mean what you do, so it kind of pushes you to perform a certain way,” Dean said. “Hopefully, it translates into the recordings being more explosive.”
Mrs. Henry’s sound combines elements of classic rock, southern rock and even some psychedelic influences that come together for a truly unique experience.
“Mrs. Henry is an amalgamation of the four of our voices and the four of our personalities,” said Daniel Cervantes, the guitarist.
“We were all born in the mid-‘80s, so we had access to a lot of wacky stuff,” Dean said. “We’re kind of sponges for all of those eras, and we’re all pretty open and loose with embracing that, especially with this album.”
This album, in particular, is an experimentation of a specific sound that can differ from what Mrs. Henry has done in the past, but their influences are still evident.
“It’s kind of like if you put T. Rex with Gilbert and Sullivan with a little bit of Mountain in there and some Credence — they all just got together and wrote a really neat album and Queen was watching in the distance,” Dean said.
Known for their harmonies, the band has used “Keep On Rising” to further explore the use of their voices as instruments. This adds even more substance to each song and gives further credibility to the band’s musicianship.
The concept for the rock opera and each act follows that of an iconic movie trilogy. The first act sets the scene, the second act explores the trials and challenges of the protagonist, and the final act gives a triumphant resolution to the storyline.
“We definitely took the opportunity to be challenging,” Cervantes said. “With a rock opera that spans three albums, we have the time to be challenging. This record is very much a circumstance of the time.”
Mrs. Henry’s 2020 tour plans were halted due to shutdowns, but they used that as a creative opportunity to focus on projects including the rock opera. The band hasn’t performed live in over a year and a half, so their upcoming Oct. 20 performance of the first act in its entirety will be a welcome experience.
“We’re very excited about this coming out over the course of a year and people getting to just digest and take it in,” Cervantes said. “There’s a lot to take in on the first act.”
There is talk of a 2022 tour to promote the rock opera, and members of Mrs. Henry are eager to get on the road again.
