You might look at the track listing of Black Helium‘s new album, UM, and initially think, “Five tracks? Why isn’t this considered an EP?” It’s because it’s five tracks of wild London psych-rock with two tracks that are over ten minutes long…and one of those is over fifteen minutes long.
The first of the double-digit tracks is the album’s opener, “Another Heaven,” which unloads on you like cosmic cannon fire and then settles down into a groove as trippy as the album’s cover. Their love of Black Sabbath is evident in the second half of the track when it goes from weird psychedelia into bass-heavy (thanks to Beck Harvey) doom sludge (which I love).
“I Saw God” (at only eight minutes and nine seconds in length) brings in some garage rock and, dare I say it, some pop-like beats for a good blend of genres resulting in a toe-tapping rocker. “Dungeon Head,” at under three minutes, is a mantra-like appetizer for “Summer of Hair” – which is a great name for a track that harkens back to the swinging 1960s of London with its trippy sound and the 1990s of London with its electro-bass thumps and beats.
Ending with the fifteen-plus-minute “The Keys to Red Skeleton’s House (Open the Door),” Black Helium go for broke and unleash everything from cosmic guitar roars from Stuart Gray and Rush-like rhythms from Diogo Gomes to more of that heavy sludge that brings with it slow head-banging and a sense of menace.
The menace doesn’t overpower UM, leaving you with lots of cool grooves and powerful vibes. They could’ve named this album OM just from the way it vibrates in your chest, but instead named it UM, possibly to make you contemplate it and the rest of the cosmos.
Keep your mind open.
[Float on over to the subscription box while you’re here.]
Today, Beach Fossils announce Bunny, their first studio album since 2017, out June 2nd on Bayonet. In conjunction with today’s announcement, they present its lead single/video, “Don’t Fade Away.”Throughout the last fifteen years, Beach Fossils have steadily earned their stature as one of the most definitive and enduring bands of the 2010s New York underground, consistently reaching new listeners as their sound has grown from the DIY solo project of Dustin Payseur to an influential four-piece dream pop band, self-produced, self-managed and self-released. Bunny represents strength through vulnerability.
“Sharpening their fidelity and dream-pop instincts on every successive release” (INTERVIEW), Bunny continues the stunning evolution of Beach Fossils’ sound, pulling elements from the jangly melancholy of What a Pleasure EP (2011), the gritty, post-punk inspired tracks from Clash the Truth (2013), and the lush arrangements of Somersault(2017).Inspired by the psych-pop of early Verve and Spiritualized albums and perennial influences like the Cure, Wire, the Byrds, and the Velvet Underground, Bunny was produced and recorded by Payseur himself, with Lars Stalfors (St. Vincent, Soccer Mommy, Lil Peep) mixing. Payseur remarks that in creating this album, a bigger emphasis was made for stronger attunement to pop structure. “When I wrote the first record, there were no choruses; it was instrumental guitar parts in between verses. This is the first record where I’ve consciously thought about writing a chorus.” Throughout, he’s joined by core band members Tommy Davidson (guitar), Jack Doyle Smith (bass), and Anton Hochheim (drums).
From poignant words about a family member’s cancer battle and the joy of being a father, to small, but meaningful moments with friends, Bunny is the band’s most vivid, grounded and personal work to date. The songs reflect on depression, love, adventure, loss, mistakes, New York City, friendships coming and going — a mélange of granular pieces in the process of continuing to find yourself. Payseur’s collage-like lyrics communicate through tone and mood as much as narrative; New York poets like Frank O’Hara, Ted Berrigan, and Anne Waldman were on his desk, as was the Tao Te Ching.
Today’s single, “Don’t Fade Away,” is an instant earworm.The video, directed by Kevin Clark (Finneas, Flatbush Zombies), sees Payseur crooning across a beautiful array of late night backdrops, from elevator cabs to Los Angeles’ El Capitan Theater. Of the track, Payseur adds: “‘Don’t Fade Away’ is about missing old friends, being on tour, self-medicating, longing, anxiety, love, being an idiot, having fun, embracing your mistakes and keeping your spark.”
Beach Fossils have sold-out concerts at venues including Brooklyn Steel in New York, The Wiltern in Los Angeles, Thalia Hall in Chicago, and beyond, and played Coachella, Bonnaroo, Primavera, and Post Malone’s Posty Fest. The band’s latest release, 2021’s The Other Side of Life: Piano Ballads, hit No. 3 on the Billboard Traditional Jazz Albums chart and the band recently cracked seven million monthly listeners total across all platforms. Bayonet Records is a genre-expansive independent label Payseur co-founded in 2014; it continues to serve as an incubator for a diverse roster of developing artists.
Today, Detroit post-punk band Protomartyr announce their new album, Formal Growth In The Desert, out June 2nd on Domino, and present its lead single/video, “Make Way.” Additionally, they announce 2023 North American and EU tour dates. Composed of vocalist Joe Casey, guitarist Greg Ahee, drummer Alex Leonard, and bassist Scott Davidson, Protomartyr have become synonymous with caustic, impressionistic assemblages of politics and poetry, the literal and oblique. Casey describes the underlying theme of Formal Growth In The Desert as a 12-song testament to “getting on with life,” even when it feels impossibly hard.
The moody lead single/video, “Make Way,” doubles as Formal Growth In The Desert’s opening track, with Casey beginning the record by facing tragedy head-on: “Welcome to the haunted earth // The living after life // Where we chose to forget // the years of the Hungry Knife.” The accompanying video, directed by Trevor Naud, is a striking cinematic feat. Of the video, Naud says: “There’s a deliberate through-line between the videos for ‘Make Way’ and 2020’s ‘Worm In Heaven.’ The two songs feel partnered with each other, so I wanted the videos to feel like they exist in the same world. There are layers of experiments happening–all within a closed environment. We don’t know what’s happened to the world outside, but there’s an undertone that things maybe aren’t quite right.”
Since their 2012 debut, No Passion All Technique, Protomartyr have mastered the art of evoking place: the grinding Midwest humility of their hometown, as well as the x-rayed elucidation of America that comes with their vantage. Though Casey did have a humbling experience staring at awe-inspiring Sonoran rock formations and reckoning with his own smallness in the scheme of things, the group’s sixth album is not necessarily a nod to the sandy expanses of the Southwest. Formal Growth In The Desert, recorded at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas, proves Detroit, too, is like a desert. “The desert is more of a metaphor or symbol” Casey says, “of emotional deserts, or a place or time that seems to lack life.”
On Formal Growth In The Desert, the desert brings an existential awareness that is ultimately internal. The “growth”came from a period of colossal transition for Casey, including the death of his mother, who struggled with Alzheimer’s for a decade and a half. Now 45, Casey had lived in the family home in northwest Detroit all his life. Immortalized in Protomartyr’s essential SPIN cover story, the neighborhood informed many of Protomartyr’s acclaimed albums, serving as a base through the band’s growth from scrappy punks to ones capable of touring the globe or bringing in the Breeder’s Kelley Deal as a touring member in 2020. In 2021, though, a rash of repeated break-ins signaled that it was time to finally move out.
Protomartyr’s music — more spacious and dynamic than ever — helped pull Casey up. “The band still being viable was very important to me,” Casey adds, “and it definitely lifted my spirits.” Having long served as Protomartyr’s unofficial musical director, guitarist Greg Ahee co-produced Formal Growth In The Desert alongside Jake Aron (Snail Mail, L’Rain). Ahee knew what Casey was going through and the challenges he’d been processing, and as Ahee was conceptualizing the music, he thought about how to make it all “like a narrative film.” Ahee explains, “I started to write at home on a piano and on a keyboard and then play along to short films, and watch how you can affect and heighten moods as you play.” The filmic sensibility is manifest in Casey’s storytelling, too, whether he’s critiquing ominous techno-capitalism or processing aging, the future, and the possibility of love.
In some sense, Formal Growth In The Desert is a testament to conflicting realities — the inevitability of loss, the necessity of finding joy through it and persisting — that come with living longer and continuing to create. It begins with pain but endures through it, cracking itself open into a gently-sweeping torrent of sound that is, for Protomartyr, totally new.
PROTOMARTYR TOUR DATES (new dates in bold) Sat. Mar. 11 – Columbus, OH @ Soupfest Sun. Mar. 12 – Chattanooga, TN @ JJ’s Bohemia Mon. Mar. 13 – New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa Wed. Mar. 15 – Austin, TX @ SXSW- Laneway Official Showcase – Lucille Thu. Mar. 16 – Austin, TX @ SXSW – Levitation Showcase – Hotel Vegas Thu. Mar. 16 – Austin, TX @ SXSW – Brooklyn Vegan Showcase – Empire Fri. Mar. 17 – Austin, TX @ SXSW – Third Man Showcase – 13th Floor Sat. Mar. 18 – Dallas, TX @ Texas Theater Mon. Mar. 20 – Phoenix, AZ @ Rebel Tue. Mar. 21 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah Wed. Mar. 22 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Fri. Mar. 24 – Bakersfield, CA @ Temblor Brewing Sat. Mar. 25 – Reno, NV @ Holland Project Sun. Mar. 26 – Boise, ID @ Treefort Tue. Mar. 28 – Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive Wed. Mar. 29 – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown Thu. Mar. 30 – Davenport, IA @ Raccoon Motel Fri. Mar. 31 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Pyramid Scheme Tue. June 13 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern Wed. June 14 – Montreal, QC @ Fairmount Fri. June 16 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom Sat. June 17 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s Tue. June 20 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat Wed. June 21 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle Thu. June 22 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West Fri. June 23 – Nashville, TN @ Blue Room Sat. June 24 – St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway Mon. June 26 – Oklahoma City, OK @ 89th Street Tue. June 28 – Tucson, AZ @ 191 Toole Wed. June 29 – Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room Sat. July 1 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel Sun. July 2 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Moe’s Alley Wed. July 5 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom Thu. July 6 – Vancouver, BC @ Cobalt Fri. July 7 – Seattle, WA @ Crocodile Sat. July 8 – Spokane, WA @ Lucky You Tue. July 11 – St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club Wed. July 12 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Thu. July 13 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall Sun. Aug. 6 – Frankfurt, DE @ Zoom Mon. Aug. 7 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Wed. Aug. 9 – Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2 Thu. Aug. 10 – Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms Fri. Aug. 11 – Cardiff, UK @ Clwb lfor Bach Sat. Aug. 12 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club Mon. Aug. 14 – Eindhoven, NL @ Effenaar Tue. Aug. 15 – Hannover, DE @ Indiego Glocksee Thu. Aug. 17 – Copenhagen, DK @ Loppen Fri. Aug. 18 – Bodo, NO @ Parkenfestivalen Sat. Aug. 19 – Trondheim, NE @ Pstereo Thu. Oct. 26 – London, UK @ Electric Ballroom
Today, Chicago-based band Ratboys return with “Black Earth, WI,” a new single/video out today via Topshelf Records. This is their first new piece of music since 2021’s Happy Birthday, Ratboy and 2020’s beloved Printer’s Devil. Clocking in at eight-and-a-half minutes, “Black Earth, WI” is their most expansive and adventurous track to date. It opens with a country-tinged sound, and as the instrumentation swells, so does Julia Steiner’s voice: “Singin’ hey now // What was that sound // Lighting a match // Just to freak you out // Then on the other side // I saw fifty yellow lines // Pushing up against the window // And with one almighty lightning strike // The Great Lake rose up behind // Said, ‘Baby, you best turn around.’” The self-produced video is made of manipulated, found VHS storm chaser footage.
“We recorded ‘Black Earth, WI’ live off the floor in Seattle last year at the amazing Hall of Justice and it was our first time recording straight to tape,” says vocalist/guitarist Julia Steiner “We had to be conscious of how many takes we could fit onto a reel, but lucky for us, take two was the one.”
Ratboys is made of Julia Steiner (vocals/guitar), Dave Sagan (guitar), Marcus Nuccio (drums), and Sean Neumann (bass). The band will bring their vivacious live show to SXSW later this month. A list of all shows and confirmed showcases can be found below.
Ratboys Tour Dates Sun. March 12 – St. Louis, MO @ Central Stage Tue. March 14 – Austin, TX @ Cheer Up Charlie’s Indoors (High Road Touring Showcase) – 12:30AM Wed. March 15 – Austin, TX @ Hotel San Jose (South by San Jose) – 3:00PM Thu. March 16 – Austin, TX @ Cheer Up Charlie’s Outdoors (Topshelf Records Showcase) – 12:00AM Fri. March 17 – Austin, TX @ The Ballroom (SmartPunk Showcase) – TBD Thu. March 30 – Notre Dame, IN @ University of Notre Dame – Stepan Center Sat. April 22 – Iowa City, IA @ Strauss Hall at Hancher
Bodywash — the Montreal duo of Chris Steward and Rosie Long Decter — present their new single/video, “No Repair,” from their forthcoming album, I Held the Shape While I Could, out April 14th on Light Organ Records. Following lead single “Massif Central” and its “infinite heights” (FLOOD), “No Repair” swells with lap steel by Micah Flavin, evoking a melancholy waltz while Long Decter’s hummed vocals drift in and out of time. “Write it in handfuls of air,” she sings on the ballad, “you were there,” insisting on both absence and presence in the end. “No Repair” features Ryan White on percussion and was mixed by Jace Lasek (The Besnard Lakes) with Harris Newman mastering the track.
Long Decter explains: “In my early 20s I found myself in a disastrous love triangle—or what Chris took to calling my ‘bizarre love oblong.’ It was a mess of bad decisions and repressed queer longing and those things you chase because you hope they will prove you are real. I found myself writing repetitively about light and air and the absence of tactility. ‘No Repair’ came from the decision to let all that go; to try to lose the shape of it. I started writing it in 2019 and finished it with Chris in 2021, letting it simmer over two years of lockdown and sitting with myself. It feels strange and sweet to be releasing it at a time when I have a new sense of ground underneath me and someone to share that feeling with. The video, filmed in my living room (and briefly in an outdoor parking lot during -30 Celsius), puts some of those themes into a different context. Loneliness after a party transforms into a dismantling of things, and rearranging them somewhere else.”
Over I Held the Shape While I Could’s twelve tracks, Steward and Long Decter reflect on their separate and shared experiences of losing a sense of place, the way something once solid can slip between your fingers, and their attempts to build something new from the fallout. As they prepared to release their 2019 debut Comforter, Long Decter and Steward both experienced alienating shifts in their personal lives, leading to a mutual sense of dislocation. They began writing new material that was darker, more experimental, and at the same time more invigorating than the soothing dream pop on Comforter. The resulting I Held the Shape While I Could is a record that lives in the sonics of decay and renewal: breaks that burst forth from a squall of fuzz guitars, drones that glitch and stutter like ice willing itself to thaw.
There are many places like home, and on I Held the Shape While I Could, home is a mutable thing; a location that is fixed until it isn’t. Across the record, Steward’s abstract guitars and Long Decter’s cascading vocals act as ambient throughlines, blurring the digital and organic, gesturing toward something intangible, just out of reach. Home is a process — the back and forth of guitar riffs and vocal hums, of files sent and received across the ocean. A world imagined and sculpted together.
Alongside I Held the Shape While I Could, Bodywash will release Take Form, a 30-page booklet that expands the world of the album. Designed by Yoon Rachel Nam (Desert Bloom, Cedric Noel), Take Formfeatures the complete album lyrics alongside poems, a short story, and guitar tabs by Long Decter and Steward, as well as art by Kristina Pedersen. This 50-copy limited run creates a new resonance for the recordings.
Bodywash Tour Dates Fri. Mar. 17 – Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas (The Nothing Song SXSW 2023 Official Showcase – 9PM) Sat. Mar. 25 – Boise, ID @ Treefort Fest – Neurolux Tue. Mar. 28 – Portland, OR @ No Fun Bar * Wed. Mar. 29 – Tacoma, WA @ Spanish Ballroom * Fri. Mar. 31 – Seattle, WA @ Homegrown in the Basement * Sat. Apr. 1 – Vancouver, BC @ 604 Studios * Sun. Apr. 9 – Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop Mon. Apr. 10 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle Wed. Apr. 12 – Toronto, ON @ Baby G + Thu. Apr. 13 – Ottawa, ON @ Live on Elgin Sat. Apr. 15 – Montreal, QC @ La Sotterenea + Mon. Apr. 17 – Boston, MA @ O’Brien’s Tue. Apr. 18 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Fire Fri. Apr. 21 – Manhattan, NY @ Berlin
Mandy, Indiana “excel at making an impression” (FADER). Today, the Manchester-bred quartet announce their debut album, i’ve seen a way, out May 19th on Fire Talk Records. Recorded in caves, crypts and shopping malls, i’ve seen a way is everything at once: an exquisitely rendered debut, expertly twisting genre to channel the chaos of everyday life. Mandy, Indiana draw on a broad sonic palette of experimental noise and industrial electronics, with frontwoman Valentine Caulfield’s lyrics of fury and fairytales completing the band’s soundworld.
Lead single “Pinking Shears” is all rude swagger and rhythms that strut on metal legs, with Caulfield expressing (in her native French) frustration at the state of the world. She runs through the myriad of inequalities, everyday aggressions, and grievances that plague our existence in late stage capitalism.
Mandy, Indiana thrive in the unexpected, and their live sets have become a vehicle to explore the boundaries of tension and release. The accompanying “Pinking Shears” video, recorded in Manchester, captures their thrilling live performance. The band will make their long-awaited US live debut at SXSW.
Mandy, Indiana’s music is made from their place within the world, having formed out of the fertile Manchester scene and arriving fully-realized. The group initially came to fruition after Caulfield and guitarist/producer Scott Fair met sharing a bill with their former projects. Joined by Simon Catling (synth) and Alex Macdougall (drums), Mandy, Indiana have generated a sound that is once chaotic and precisely tuned. The “Berghain-ready” (them) early single “Injury Detail” was released to a wealth of critical praise from the likes of FADER (deeming the track a “Song You Need”), Stereogum (previously naming Mandy one of 2021’s “Best New Bands”) and Pitchfork, who hailed: “Mandy, Indiana have mastered the sound of mechanized violence.”
Their first recordings emerged around 2019, with a smattering of early singles released not long after, culminating in 2021’s acclaimed “…” EP, released via Fire Talk, which saw the band draw early cosigns including a Daniel Avery remix and support slots from Squid and Gilla Band. The latter’s Daniel Fox mixed several of the tracks on i’ve seen a way, alongside Robin Stewart of Giant Swan. Produced by the band’s own Fair, the album was mastered by indie stalwart Heba Kadry.
Unlikely off-site recording locations with novel acoustics were crucial to achieving i’ve seen a way’s unique sound, from recording screaming vocals in a Bristol mall to live drums in a West Country cave — the latter’s session cut short by literal spelunkers. Other sessions happened in Gothic crypts, where Mandy, Indiana’s physical bass frequencies and experiments with volume competed with underground roadworks in upsetting a yoga class above. i’ve seen a way is a manifesto for these moments of openness and disruption.
i’ve seen a way manipulates chance recording operations into percussive geometries, one where gnarled guitars sit in thickets of distortion and vocals spin knots of lyrical repetitions. Fair explains, “We wanted to alter textures, create clashes, and craft those moments when what you’re expecting to happen never comes.”
i’ve seen a way Tracklist 1. Love Theme (4K VHS) 2. Drag [Crashed] 3. Pinking Shears 4. Injury Detail 5. Mosaick 6. The Driving Rain (18) 7. 2 Stripe 8. Iron Maiden 9. Peach Fuzz 10. (ノ>ω<)ノ :。・:*:・゚’★,。・:*:♪・゚’☆ (Crystal Aura Redux) 11. Sensitivity Training
Mandy, Indiana Tour Dates Wed. Mar. 1 – Manchester, UK @ Soup Wed. Mar. 15 – Sun. Mar. 19 – Austin, TX @ SXSW Mon. May 22 – Utrecht, NL @ Freaky Dancing Fri. June 16 – Mannheim, DE @ Maifeld Derby Sat. July 8 – Trencin, SK @ Pohoda Sat. July 22 – Standon, UK @ Standon Calling Sat. Aug. 5 – Katowice, PL @ OFF Fri. Oct. 27 – Manchester, UK @ The White Hotel * Sat. Oct. 28 – Glasgow, UK @ Hug & Print * Sun. Oct. 29 – Newcastle, UK @ Zerox * Wed. Nov. 1 – Bristol, UK @ Dareshack * Thu. Nov. 2 – Brighton, UK @ Green Door Store * Fri. Nov. 3 – London, UK @ Corsica Studios * Sat. Nov. 4 – Nottingham, UK @ Bodega *
My friend and I arrived at Chicago’s Salt Shed (the former Morton’s Salt factory) too late to catch The Steens, mainly due to chilly weather and heavy traffic, but we made it in plenty of time to see Viagra Boys. The venue is pretty damn big, and they packed the place in a near sold-out show that lead singer Sebastian Murphy said might’ve been their biggest show in the United States.
They certainly brought the energy to back that claim, opening with a pounding version of “I Ain’t No Thief” that had beer cans and water cups flying everywhere over the large main crowd floor. Following that with “Ain’t Nice” was like pouring gasoline on a fire.
The crowd was jumping, yelling, singing and even sometimes dumbfounded as Viagra Boys ripped through old and new tracks and sometimes wandered into weird psychedelia, including a Captain Beefheart-like saxophone solo by Oscar Carls.
Other highlights included the crowd favorites “Sports” and “Troglodyte” (which had everyone chanting), the graphic deep cut “Liquids” (which Murphy admitted, on stage, is “a song about getting peed on.”), a trippy version of “Creepy Crawlers,” and a long, wild version of “Shrimp Shack” to close out the main set. It was also cool to hear “Worms” during the encore, as it’s a sharp song about impermanence but almost a relaxing tonic before “Research Chemicals” hits you in the face.
They set a high bar for bands the rest of the year. Enjoy the chaos with them if you get a chance.
DECASIA is a heavy psych rock trio who released its debut album “An Endless Feast for Hyenas” on last April. The band is coming up with an explosive cocktail mixing stoner, doom, psych rock and grunge. Inspired by what heavy rock scene does best (All Them Witches, Colour Haze, Elder…), DECASIA stands out with its own recipe. The band also has a really rock’n’roll energy, especially on stage where they offer supercharged and immersive shows.
This summer, the frenchies shot a music video in the middle of Auvergne’s countryside, not far from the barn where they recorded the album. The video features not one but two songs from the album : “Ilion” and outro “Hyenas At The Gates”. A clip shot in total DIY over 4 days in the countryside, written and directed by the band with the help of audiovisual students. Spoiler : a very special old car is featured in the music video 😉
Meanwhile, the band has just announced tour dates in France, Belgium and Germany from April 7 to 22.DECASIA will be playing at Hellfest, on Saturday June 17 (Valley Stage, 10am).
Tanukichan‘s sophomore LP GIZMOis due out March 3rd via Company Records. A project led by Hannah van Loon, in collaboration with the Grammy-nominated chillwave pioneer Chaz Bear of Toro y Moi, their album is the follow up to their debut LP, Sundays, arelease that saw an enthusiastic response when it was released in 2018, earning praise from outlets like Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, FADER, Stereogum, Loud & Quiet and The AV Club.
The album’s lead single “Don’t Give Up“ was greeted with excitement upon its release, earning best of the week nods from outlets like MTV and Pitchfork, and the follow up “Thin Air” that featured Aramis Johnson of the Tacoma, Washington band Enumclaw, earned similar acclaim when it was released alongside a Stereogum feature about the new LP.
Today, Tanukichan is sharing a final single from the LP, a track called “Take Care”.
“I wrote ‘Take Care’ when I was feeling especially depressed,” explains Van Loon. “I felt so down and bummed out that I started cutting people out of my life. I felt like whenever I had interactions with others I was such a drag that I would bring down the mood. I had nothing I wanted to talk about so I just cut off from people. It was painful to feel isolated and I craved companionship or friendship even more, but I knew that someday I would come out of it, and hopefully we would be friends again.“
Dry Cleaning, photographed in Max Miechowski’s studio in Tottenham, London, on 09/27/2022.
Stumpwork, the sophomore LP from Dry Cleaning, “vibrantly expand[ed] Dry Cleaning’s core sound” (Pitchfork), and became one of last year’s most acclaimed releases, garnering year-end praise from Rolling Stone, Sound Opinions, Uproxx, and many more. Following their performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the UK outfit announce Swampy, a new EP composed of two previously unreleased tracks from the Stumpwork sessions, remixes and a demo, out March 1st on 4AD, and unveil two bonus tracks, “Swampy” and “Sombre Two.” Of the additions, the band says: “These two songs (‘Swampy’ and ‘Sombre Two’) were recorded in the Stumpwork sessions and they feel like good companions to us. They share a dusty, desolate and spacey atmosphere. On the eve of this release we have been touring through the southwest US, where these songs feel at home in the arid, Mars-like landscape of the Arizona desert.”
Also featured on Swampy are remixes from Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul, recently featured in Pitchfork’s “25 New and Rising Artists Shaping the Future of Music in 2023,” and Nourished By Time, who supported Dry Cleaning on their recently-wrapped North American tour. Swampy will be released digitally and as a limited edition cassette (band store only). Tonight, Dry Cleaning will begin the UK/EU leg of their Stumpwork tour, with full dates listed below. Tickets are on sale now.
DRY CLEANING TOUR DATES Tue. Feb. 21 – Nottingham, UK @ Rock City Wed Feb. 22 – Sheffield, UK @ The Foundry Fri. Feb. 24 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall Sat. Feb. 25 – Birmingham, UK @ O2 Institute Sun. Feb. 26 – Bristol, UK @ O2 Academy Tue. Feb. 28 – Cardiff, UK @ Tramshed Wed. March 1 – Brighton, UK @ Chalk – SOLD OUT Fri. March 3 – London, UK @ Roundhouse Mon. Mar. 13 – Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA Wed. Mar. 15 – Stockholm, SE @ Debaser Strand Thu. Mar. 16 – Oslo, NO @ Parkteatret Sat. Mar. 18 – Hamburg, DE @ Knust Sun. Mar. 19 – Groningen, NL @ Vera – SOLD OUT Mon. Mar. 20 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Tue. March 22 – Offenbach, DE @ Hafen2 Thu. Mar. 23 – Munich, DE @ Strom Fri. Mar. 24 – Vienna, AT @ Flex Sat. Mar. 25 – Prague, CZ @ Futurum Mon. Mar. 27 – Warsaw, PL @ Hybrydy Tue. Mar. 28- Leipzig, DE @ UT Connewitz Wed. Mar. 29 – Berlin, DE @ Festsaal Kreuzberg Fri. Mar. 31 – Rotterdam, NL @ Maassilo Sat. Apr. 1 – Antwerp, BE @ Trix Sat. Aug. 26 – Domaine National de Saint-Cloud, FR @ Rock En Seine
