Slash & Myles Kennedy premiere April Fool video, announce double live album

Slash featuring Myles Kennedy And The Conspirators – or SMKC, if you prefer brevity – have launched a video for April Fool, the second single to be taken from their album 4, which was released in February. The previous single from the album, The River Is Rising, came out in October last year.

“I've got a lot of tapes of us jamming April Fool at soundchecks without knowing where it would go," says Slash. "And although it took a while to put together, it's a cool riff,”

“The song really came together when we went into the studio, and it is one of the songs that Dave Cobb had a definite impact on. Certain key elements were missing in the demo, arrangement-wise, and he just went, ‘We'll connect that right there…’ And I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s a good idea!’ [laughs]

"Sometimes you just need that other person that you can trust musically. And if they have an idea, you can’t be too precious to try it."

“It's one of my favourites," adds Kennedy. "A really fun track. Lyrically it's about being played, and ultimately you realise you've had enough, and you decide you're going to have the last laugh in the end. That's where that line ‘I guess the jokes’ on you,’ comes into play.

"And Dave got his hands dirty on this one. He did some tweaking and suddenly it was like, ‘This is a lot better!’ We were really, really, happy with how it turned out."

SMKC have also announced their first live album. Live At Studios 60 was recorded at Studios 60 in Los Angeles on February 11, 2022, in celebration of the 4's release. Originally streamed live on Facebook and YouTube, the set features the entire album performed live, plus older tracks You’re A Lie, World On Fire, Anastasia and Driving Rain.

Live At Studios 60 will be limited to just 2250 double vinyl copies, and be released on the second of this year's Record Store Days, June 18. Full tracklist below.

SMKC - Live At Studios 60 tracklist

The River Is Rising
Whatever Gets You By
C'est la vie
The Path Less Followed
Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Spirit Love
Fill My World
April Fool
Call Off The Dogs
Fall Back To Earth
You’re A Lie
World On Fire
Driving Rain
Anastasia

Live At Studios 60 cover art — (Image credit: Gibson Records/BMG)

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. 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.