The Animal Years

"The Animal Years" is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriterJoshRitter,released on March 20, 2006 on the V2 label. Before performing Girl in the War at the 2006 annual dinner of the Center for American Progress in Washington D.C., Ritter stated that he intended “to write about [the United States of America], but [instead] it all came out sounding like a love song." The Animal Years was reissued on February 15, 2011 as a two-disc Deluxe Edition. The Deluxe Edition includes the complete original studio album as well as a bonus CD with Ritter performing a solo acoustic version of the entire album (recorded in Nashville in June 2008). The bonus CD also includes four b-sides, a video (Lillian, Egypt), new artwork, and liner notes by Tom Ricks. The Animal Years Deluxe Edition was previously released in Ireland on January 17, 2010. A vinyl version of the Deluxe Edition was released in the United States on January 25, 2011. It comes with a copy of the bonus acoustic and b-side CD.