Jerry Cantrell debuts video for new single, Atone – but is he teasing a new signature Gibson Songwriter acoustic, too?

Jerry Cantrell - Atone (Official Video) - YouTube

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Alice In Chains man Jerry Cantrell has debuted Atone, the first single from his forthcoming solo album Brighten, due October 29.

The Atone video was reportedly shot in Joshua Tree - an appropriate landscape for its twanging, darkly psychedelic sound - but we’re most interested in the guitar he's wielding. 

Cantrell signed on as a Gibson brand ambassador back in January 2020 and we already know he has a new signature Les Paul on the way. 

The instrument he’s using in the Atone video is certainly a custom Gibson acoustic, likely a Songwriter, with what appears to be a square white scratchplate around the soundhole.

The fret markers on the neck and overall body shape tally with the Songwriter build, but – if you watch the video in 4K and get a bit ‘zoom-y’ – you can see what looks suspiciously like a Jerry Cantell signature on the truss rod cover.

We’ll have to wait and see for now, but in the meantime we can look forward to Brighten, which drops in October. 

Jerry says of Atone, “As a fan of Ennio Morricone scores and Sergio Leone movies, it’s got a bit of that outlaw vibe, with a cool psycho hillbilly stomp,” he explains. “It’s been kicking around in my head for like 20-plus years, haunting me. Sometimes it takes a while for a good idea to find its best form. Such was the case with Atone.”

The cinematic feel is perhaps informed by the album’s chief collaborator Tyler Bates, the film composer behind the music for 300 and John Wick, who co-produced the record. Duff McKagan also appears on bass across several tracks, while Greg Puciato (Dillinger Escape Plan) handles all the background vocals. 

Reportedly the album includes eight originals and a cover of Elton John’s Goodbye (approved by John himself), as the closer. 

Brighten tracklist

1. Atone
2. Brighten
3. Prism of Doubt
4. Black Hearts and Evil Done
5. Siren Song
6. Had To Know
7. Nobody Breaks You
8. Dismembered
9. Goodbye

Brighten is released on October 29, 2021.