''Under a Billion Suns'' is the seventh studio album by

Mudhoney Mudhoney is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1988, following the demise of Green River. Its members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison and drummer Dan Peters. Orig ...

, released in the United States in March 2006. It was recorded with three different producers:

Phil Ek Phil Ek is an American record producer, engineer and mixer. Ek began his career in Seattle, Washington in the early 1990s recording live sound in clubs. He then moved into studio recording, recording small projects and demos for local bands. Aroun ...

Johnny Sangster Johnny Sangster is an American musician, record producer, and recording engineer. Professional career Johnny Sangster is a Seattle-based recording engineer, musician, and producer. As a musician he is known for The Sharing Patrol, Dear John Let ...

and

Tucker Martine Tucker Martine (born January 14, 1972) is an American record producer, musician and composer. In 2010, ''Paste'' Magazine included Martine in their list of the 10 Best Producers of the Decade. Early life Tucker Martine, the son of singer and son ...

. The album was a further departure from Mudhoney's original

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...

sound, and a continuation of the more commercial sound that began with their previous album. Of note is the unusual amount of saxophones and trumpets featured on the album. A few of the songs also feature female backing vocals. The first few hundred copies pre-ordered from

Sub Pop Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...

were autographed by the band, and came with a bonus CD featuring demos and remixes. The song "Empty Shells" was featured on the "

NHL 2K7 ''NHL 2K7'' is an ice hockey video game made by 2K Sports, and published on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Xbox 360 consoles. It features San Jose Sharks centre Joe Thornton on its cover. Bob Cole and Harry Neale return from NHL 2K ...

" video game.

Writing and recording

The album includes backing vocals from

Christy McWilson Christy McWilson is an American singer-songwriter based in the Pacific Northwest. She has performed with the Dynette Set, the Picketts, as a solo artist, and with many other artists, including Dave Alvin and The Young Fresh Fellows. Early life ...

and

Amy Allison Amy Allison is an American country music artist and the daughter of jazz-blues musician Mose Allison. She became interested in country music as a kid growing up on Long Island, and first began making music as the lead singer of ''Amy Allison and t ...

on "Let's Drop In" and "I Saw the Light". Before the album was released co-founder of

Sub Pop records Sub is a common abbreviation of words beginning with the prefix "sub-". Sub or SUB may also refer to Places * Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia, IATA code SUB Computing and technology * , an HTML tag for subscript * SUB designat ...

Jonathan Poneman Jonathan Poneman is an American record executive and co-founder of two record labels: Sub Pop and Hardly Art. Early life and education The third child of Harold and Beverly Poneman, Jonathan Poneman was born October 9, 1959 in Toledo, Ohio and ...

said that the album is more political than typical Mudhoney albums, while vocalist

Mark Arm Mark Arm (born Mark Thomas McLaughlin; February 21, 1962) is an American singer and songwriter, best known as the vocalist for the grunge band Mudhoney. His former group, Green River, was one of the first grunge bands, along with Malfunkshun, So ...

said "That may be a little exaggerated. There are four songs where those things are touched on. It's more kind of mocking than the stark, black or white approach." The song "Hard on for War" was written around the time of the U.S.'s 2003 invasion of Iraq. "On the Move," and "I Saw the Light" have been appearing in Mudhoney's recent live shows, Arm says the band wasn't particularly looking to fine-tune the material before it hit the studio.Billboard Mudhoney's 'Sun' Rising In March
/ref>

Track listing

All songs composed by

: #"Where Is the Future?" - 5:38 #"It Is Us" - 3:28 #"I Saw the Light" - 2:23 #"Endless Yesterday" - 4:02 #"Empty Shells" - 2:38 #"Hard-On for War" - 3:57 #"A Brief Celebration of Indifference" - 2:06 #"Let's Drop In" - 4:40 #"On the Move" - 4:46 #"In Search Of..." - 5:02 #"Blindspots" - 5:37 Bonus Disc #"Where Is the Future? (Remix)" - 8:01 #"Hard-On for War (Rough Mix)" - 4:03 #"Dig Those Trenches (Unreleased)" - 3:27 #"On the Move (Johnny Sangster Version)" - 4:50 #"It Is Us (Rough Mix)" - 3:31 #"Blindspots (Rough Mix)" - 4:53

References

{{Authority control 2006 albums Mudhoney albums Sub Pop albums Albums produced by Tucker Martine Albums produced by Phil Ek Albums produced by Johnny Sangster