The Madden Brothers Announce Debut Album 'Greetings From California'

The Madden Brothers (Joel and Benji Madden of Good Charlotte's side-project) have announced they will release their long-awaited debut album Greetings From California on October 7th via Capitol Records.

The first single "We Are Done," a soulful, ’60s-inspired tune that they wrote with producer Eric Valentine, will be released June 2nd along with a lyric video. The single will impact Pop and Adult Contemporary radio on June 30th.

The album is split into two “sides,” the first filled with upbeat, sunny pop-rock produced by their long-time collaborator Eric Valentine, who also produced The Young and the Hopeless and 2004’s The Chronicles of Life and Death and has also worked with Queens of the Stone Age, Taking Back Sunday, Third Eye Blind and countless others. It features the lyrically unapologetic “We Are Done,” which Benji says is an anthem about standing up for yourself. “It’s for anyone who’s feeling unappreciated or abused, or is suffering in any way,” he says. “We want to inspire people to speak up.”

Side Two is an earthy blend of folk, Southern rock, and ’70s-era FM pop produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Joe Chiccarelli, known for his work with The White Stripes, The Strokes The Shins and many others. Its centerpiece is “California Rain,” which tells the story of the Maryland-born brothers’ journey from East Coast to West Coast. It was also the first song they wrote back in 2012, during an inspiring visit with their friend Pharrell Williams, who encouraged them to follow their muse. “We went to see him in Miami and Benji brought an acoustic guitar,” Joel recalls. “We wrote the song together that night. It felt like a repeat of us leaving home at 18 for California with just an acoustic guitar. All these years later, it all comes down to an acoustic guitar.”