“[Amen Dunes] has proven to be a fearless reinventer, a spiritually attuned songwriter, and a cerebral lyricist who’s well-primed to tell you something about yourself if you simply pay a visit to the flawed characters who inhabit his records” — Stereogum

Amen Dunes – the project of New York City-based Damon McMahon – unveils “Rugby Child,” the final single ahead of the release of Death Jokes, out this Friday via Sub Pop, following “Purple Land,” “Boys” and the album’s centerpiece, “Round the World.” 

With deep kick drums and hi-hats underneath a serpentine guitar riff, “Rugby Child” explores the psychic dis-ease that affected us all at the height of the pandemic and one’s desire to break from this mortal coil. McMahon sings, “You hear that Annie died? / She was straight for fifty days / When they said to stay inside / She must’ve just gone crazy.” “The song was written in April 2020, and flips between memories of touring, and that present moment of spring,” McMahon explains. “A musician from New York I had known had just overdosed. He wasn’t named Annie, but she stands in for him out of respect.”

The “Rugby Child” video completes the Death Jokes trilogy of videos and is once again directed by McMahon’s ongoing collaborator Steven Brahms. Featuring McMahon and modern dancer Jennifer Florentio, the video was filmed in an abandoned detox center in Flatbush. 

Watch the Video for Amen Dunes’ “Rugby Child”

“A daring turn in a different direction” (NPR Music) for Amen Dunes, Death Jokes marks his first record since 2018’s Freedom (named a “best album of the decade” by Pitchfork). Death Jokes sees McMahon immersing himself in the electronic music he’d grown up with at raves and clubs but never imagined himself able to make. For the first time since the project’s incarnation in 2006, the spiritual reflections and meditations of Amen Dunes are turned away from himself and out sharply towards the world. Through samples and lyrics, the album plays like a scathing electronic essay on America’s culture of violence, dominance, and destructive individualism. 

Following a New York City performance next week and a summer tour of the UK and Europe, Amen Dunes will return to the US for an appearance at Pitchfork Music Festival in July and then embark on a North American tour in August, including a festival performance at Outside Lands in San Francisco. A full list of dates is below and tickets are on sale here.

Pre-order Death Jokes

Listen to “Purple Land”

Watch the Video For “Boys”

Watch the Video for “Round the World”

Amen Dunes Tour Dates

(New Dates in Bold)

Wed. May 15 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel

Mon. July 1 - Paris, FR @ Trabendo

Wed. July 3 - Berlin, DE @ Gretchen

Fri. July 5 - Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival

Sun. July 7 - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso

Tue. July 9 - London, UK @ KOKO

Fri. July 19 - Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival 

Wed. Aug. 7 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether

Thu. Aug. 8 - San Francisco, CA @ The Independent

Fri. Aug. 9 - Sun. Aug 11 - San Francisco, CA @ Outside Lands

Tue. Aug. 13 - Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall

Wed. Aug. 14 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox

Fri. Aug 16 – Vancouver, BC @ The Pearl

Thu. Sep. 5 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts

Fri. Sep. 6 – Washington D.C. @ Black Cat

Sun. Sep. 8 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West

Tue. Sep. 10 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater

Wed. Sep. 11 – Austin, TX @ Empire Garage

Fri. Sep. 13 – Denver, CO @ Summit

Tue. Sep. 17 – Toronto, ON @ The Concert Hall

Wed. Sep. 18 – Montreal, QC @ Le Studio