Dhani Harrison, son of the late George Harrison, recently released his second official solo album, Innerstanding. The 10-track collection of atmospheric tunes initially was made available via digital formats in October, while physical CD and vinyl editions arrived at the end of 2024.
In an exclusive interview with American Songwriter, Harrison explained that Innerstanding was recorded after he and frequent collaborator Paul Hicks had done the soundtrack to an experimental film titled Futra Days, by director Ryan David. Similarly, Harrison noted, his first solo album, In Parallel (2017), was recorded after he and Hicks worked on the soundtrack to David’s previous film, Seattle Road (2016).
Harrison said he began working on ideas for the songs on Innerstanding on a laptop while he was spending several months in Australia during the pandemic, noting that the tunes were influenced by the Futra Days soundtrack.
“I just started making this record, using kind of what I had in my head from this film score I’d done,” he told American Songwriter. “So it was kind of all organic, the way that the first album came after the first score for this director, and the second album came after the second movie of this director. So they fit.”
Harrison said he had almost the entire album recorded when he returned to the U.K. from Australia, with the exception of the main guitar parts. The 45-year-old musician said a highlight for him was putting guitar on the record alongside Coxon, whom he says is one of his favorite guitarists.
“Graham and I did a lot of stuff on this record, and just kind of threw down some insanity,” Harrison said. “You know, his guitar is the best sounding guitar. … [I]t sounds like a scary monster. It sounds like a … ‘Godzilla coming out of the ocean’ kind of sound.”
Harrison also praised Wootton’s contributions to the album, noting, “he’s an incredible player too.” He said that between himself, Coxon, and Wootton there was “very dirty guitar on the record.”
Thematically, Harrison explained that the songs on Innerstanding basically are about people being able to get along with each other despite our differences.
“[I]f you’re gonna be in this world now, we have to be living in our hearts and we have to be coming from a place of love,” Dhani maintained. “Otherwise, everything we do and everything we say and everything that’s around us can be … weaponized against us and used against us. … [A]lso, that whole concept of just, it’s okay to disagree on things and still love each other.”
Dhani seemed to suggest that the concert video could be released as part of a deluxe version of Innerstanding.
Meanwhile, Harrison says he’s planning to start touring behind Innerstanding, but no upcoming shows have been announced yet.
