Leon Bridges made half of Happiness Anytime in four days
Jungle’s J. Lloyd and Lydia Kitto produced the September 25 album, built around Bridges’ return to music he can dance to.
Leon Bridges’ Happiness Anytime started with a low-pressure writing session and ended up with six songs in four days. That’s half of the 12-song album released September 25 through Columbia. Bridges made it with Jungle members J. Lloyd and Lydia Kitto, who produced the record across three sessions.
Four days, six songs
The working rule was concrete: finish a song before leaving the studio. Bridges concentrated on vocals and storytelling, Kitto contributed melodies and harmonies, and Lloyd shaped arrangements and production. Bassist Pino Palladino also joined them at Los Angeles’ Chaplin Recording Studios.
Bridges told Apple Music that his previous album, Leon, had been slower and more reflective, and that he wanted this one to get people moving. That goal has carried into the stage production. His Happiness Anytime shows include a vinyl DJ, horns and three backing vocalists, with Bridges dancing at the front again.
The earlier September Tonight Show medley brings together “Light the Way,” “Illusion” and “Talk It Over.” Kitto also joins him on the album’s “All Day, All Night.” Happiness Anytime runs 37 minutes, carrying that studio collaboration through a compact full-length record.
