A modern Western where myth and unrest ride side by side
| August Gladstone introduces “Freedom,” the final single off his debut studio album entitled The Golden West, which consists of ten songs written by August Gladstone and produced by Mark Hart, featuring themes inspired by folk poetry, Western culture, and political urgency. As an essential track on the album, “Freedom” describes a voice torn between destruction and conviction, exploring the fissures of emotion within a generation navigating an already broken world. As the song expands, it acquires an edgy energy, moving to a gallop with a string sound that is somehow cinematic yet tattered. Once again, Gladstone’s vocals hold their place right in the middle, raw and unadulterated, and there is something about them that captures the same sort of bleak despair found in the honesty of Bright Eyes. The production has a deliberate graininess that refuses to smooth out any rough edges, giving the song its sense of urgency. |
| Listen to “Freedom” HERE |
| Gladstone states the following about the single: “THE GOLDEN WEST is a rebellious album; Whether musically, through its unorthodox sonics, or politically through its lyricism. FREEDOM is the epitome of that rebellion. It’s a sprawling lyric poem of anti-fascist surrealism, written in a state of angry destitution and sung with the desperate hope of a generation condemned to a battle they didn’t start. The song is both a lament and an anthem for freedom at a time when it’s most at risk.” From his upcoming album, The Golden West, “Freedom” hints at a larger body of work grounded in the tradition of folk poetry and rich in Western symbolism. Backed by producer Mark Hart with live instruments, the record positions Gladstone as an artist whose writings are driven by paradox, with myth and modernity, hopelessness and faith existing in uneasy proximity. |
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About August Gladstone:
August Gladstone is a Writer, Troubadour, Performer and Poet. He’s used his theatrical upbringing (on Broadway at age six) to craft wild stories, working as a produced screenwriter and performing across the country under manifold mediums, including an appearance in the 2024 Netflix is a Joke Comedy Festival. August is an award-winning poet holding publications from a variety of literary journals and magazines. His debut chapbook of poetry and lyrics, THE GOLDEN WEST, is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press. As a lyricist, he’s written for members of Supertramp, Crowded House and Ringo’s All-Starr Band. August was a 2025 Woodstock-Byrdcliffe Guild Artist in Residence whose debut EP, COMMODORE, released in July 2025. August’s first studio album, also titled THE GOLDEN WEST, releases on 5.16.26.
