On Friday, The War On Drugs’ released their fourth LP, A Deeper Understanding, and it’s one of my favorite albums of the year.

How did The War On Drugs get to this point, with a brilliant new LP that has many critics calling them America’s next great band? I called up Dan DeLuca, long-time music critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer, to talk about the band’s career, its roots in Philly, and the formative influences on frontman Adam Granduciel. We also discuss whether A Deeper Understanding is even better than the band’s 2014 breakthrough, Lost In The Dream.

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