Sub Pop has signed Dutch band The Homesick and will release The Big Exercise, the group’s label debut, worldwide February 7th, 2020. The album, which features the singles “I Celebrate My Fantasy,” “Kaïn,” “Male Bonding,” and the title track, was produced by the band at Schenck Studio in Amsterdam, mixed by Casper van der Lans, and mastered by Mikey Young (Total Control, Eddy Current Suppression Ring). Listen to “I Celebrate My Fantasy” now here and also on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp.
The Guardian called The Homesick “An eccentric Dutch trio bringing a sense of humor – and some unusual transportation – to their scratchy, eclectic post-punk (‘Ones to Watch’).”
The Big Exercise is now available for preorder on CD/LP/DL from Sub Pop. Preorders of the album through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers in North America will receive the limited Loser edition on bright yellow vinyl (while supplies last). Meanwhile, preorders in the UK and Europe from select independent retailers will receive the limited Loser edition on opaque yellow vinyl (while supplies last).
[Pictured: North American limited Loser Edition vinyl]
The Homesick The Big Exercise
Tracklisting: 1. What’s In Store 2. Children’s Day 3. Pawing 4. I Celebrate My Fantasy 5. Leap Year 6. The Small Exercise 7. The Big Exercise 8. Focus On The Beach 9. Kaïn 10. Male Bonding
The Homesick Tour Dates
The Homesick’s current international tour schedule spans November 9th, 2019 through March 7th, 2020. Highlights for this timeframe include Taiwan’s Luc Fest on November 9th; Explore the North Festival in Leeuwarden, Netherlands on November 22nd; and a tour of the Netherlands February 21st-March 7th, 2020. Additional live dates will be announced in the new year.
November-December 2019 Nov. 09 - Taiwan, TW - LUC Fest Nov. 22 - Leeuwarden, NL - Explore the North Festival Nov. 23 - Dusseldorf, DE - Weltkunstzimmer Dec. 04 - Trier, DE - VillaWuller
February-March 2020 Feb. 21 - Groningen, NL - Vera Feb. 28 - Nijmegen, NL - Merleyn Mar. 05 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso Mar. 06 - Rotterdam, NL - WORM Mar. 07 - Utrecht, NL - EKKO
[Photo Credit: Sarah Cass]
About The Homesick and The Big Exercise: If their debut Youth Hunt marked The Homesick’s tryst with faith and pastoral life, the band’s upcoming second album The Big Exercise brings them to more grounded, tangible pastures. With its title ripped from a passage in the Scott Walker-biography Deep Shade Of Blue, the record is a concentrated effort by Jaap van der Velde, Erik Woudwijk and Elias Elgersma to explore the physicality of their music in fresh ways.
“When we were on tour in 2018, I bought Meredith Monk’s Dolmen Music in Switzerland,” Van der Velde recalls, “Elias and I have been completely immersed in her music ever since. But also the work of Joan La Barbara for example, who also did things with extended vocal techniques, that was also quite vital to us. We discovered that the human voice offers so many beautiful elements that can still feel very physical and intrusive.”
During those formative years, the Dutch trio was often typecast as your resident tricksters. Hailing from the backwater Frisian municipality of Dokkum, Van der Velde, Woudwijk and Elgersma shrewdly courted spirituality under their own nonconformist whims, even if that wasn’t immediately obvious to outsiders. For those on the outside looking in, it was hard to tell whether the band was taking the piss or genuinely unraveling themselves as starry-eyed romantics.
The Homesick relished and thrived in that very schism on Youth Hunt. When not ruminating on their environment under the guise of Dark Age Christianity, they wrapped their ambivalence into sure-fire pop earworms. Even the album’s production values were undeniably quixotic: the exuberant vocal retorts of Elgersma and Van der Velde drenched in reverb, as warped synths and distorted guitars launched skyward with the glee of a firework spectacle.
As an inverse to that mindset, The Big Exercise finds the band keenly second-guessing their core chemistry as a live unit, imbuing their angular post-punk workouts with baroque elements such as piano, acoustic guitar, percussion, and even clarinet.“It’s the opposite of trying to translate recorded music to the stage,” Elgersma comments. “We were already playing these songs live for quite some time, so for this album, we wanted to unlock the potential of these songs further in the studio.”
Opening track “What’s In Store” was in part inspired by Van der Velde’s unprompted deep dive into the world of National Anthems, making his own attempt to conjure a similarly timeless melody. The song seamlessly bleeds into the chivalrous prance of “Children’s Day” and the fragmented “Pawing,” righteously encouraging Erik Woudwijk’s nimble, cerebral drumming to become the band’s driving force.
The headstrong wanderlust of The Big Exercise is very fitting, given The Homesick’s exodus as a small-town Dutch band ready to trot the world. Contrary to Youth Hunt’s quest for belonging, roots, and provenance, however, the band’s creative trajectory is now dictated by a sense of otherness and imagination. The sharp contrasts are nevertheless ever-present; the music’s new sonorous depth is underpinned by wry meditations on family ties, alternate realities, and commonplace encounters. As the band’s chief lyricists, Elgersma and Van der Velde deliberately keep each other in the dark, allowing the syntax of words and music to entangle in surprising – sometimes delightfully absurd – ways.
“I Celebrate My Fantasy,” for example, summons a mirage of creeping pianos, sylvan clarinet flourishes and cartoonish sprawls with mock-paranoia, as Elgersma documents a macabre vision he had during a mild case of sleep paralysis. True to the band’s method of holding the more mundane, fleeting moments under a magnifying glass, capricious closing track “Male Bonding” pulls a wide range of movements out of the top hat: the album’s rare heavy burst is promptly mediated by almost medieval-sounding prog rock-flirtations.
With aplomb, The Homesick made a record impregnated with impressions which – when superimposed – still fit neatly under the pop umbrella. That obvious nod to Scott Walker isn’t an aberration either: straddling pop sonority and the cacophonous fringes is something well worth aspiring.
“That’s also a phenomenal aspect of the position we’re now in as a band,” Van der Velde enthuses. “I consider The Homesick a pop band first and foremost. If you’d introduce a late-era Scott Walker-record to a layman, it would likely fall on flat ears. But put it in the right scene of a good movie, and that person may finally understand its potential. The Homesick is allowed to play around in that pop framework, and the goal is to explore what’s possible within it. You can do super radical and weird things, and at the same time convey it all as straightforward pop music. With this album, I hope people will hear things anew after multiple listens.”
Wolf Parade will release Thin Mind, the group’s fifth full-length, on CD/LP/DL/CS January 24th worldwide through Sub Pop, with the exception of Canada through Royal Mountain Records. The ten-track album, which features the singles “Forest Green,” the previously released “Against the Day,” and “Julia Take Your Man Home,” was produced by John Goodmanson at Risque Disque on Vancouver Island, BC, mixed by Goodmanson at Bogroll Studios in Seattle, and mastered by Noah Mintz at Lacquer Channel Mastering in Toronto.
Wolf Parade Thin Mind
Tracklisting
1. Under Glass 2. Julia Take Your Man Home 3. Forest Green 4. Out of Control 5. The Static Age 6. As Kind as You Can 7. Fall Into the Future 8. Wandering Son 9. Against the Day 10. Town Square
Wolf Parade Tour Dates + Ticket Links
Wolf Parade has extended its international headlining touring schedule in support of Thin Mind, to include U.S. shows for January and February 2020. The dates begin January 27th in Portland, Oregon at the Crystal Ballroom and run through February 24th in Brooklyn, New York at Brooklyn Steel.
Fan presales for these shows begin Wednesday, November 13th at 10 am (local) (password “thinmind”), with tickets on sale to the general public on Friday, November 15th at 10 am (local). Support for these dates will come from Land of Talk (January 27th-February 11th) and Sub Pop/Royal Mountain label mates Jo Passed (February 12th-24th).
Wolf Parade’s previously announced European and UK tour dates for 2020 begin March 2nd in Utrecht, Netherlands at Tivoli Vredenburg and end March 15th in Dublin, Ireland at The Button Factory. Tickets for these shows are on sale now. For more information on tickets, please visit WolfParade.com.
Jan. 27 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom * Jan. 29 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore * Jan. 30 - Los Angeles, CA - The Regent Theater * Jan. 31 - Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up Tavern * Feb. 01 - Tucson, AZ - 191 Toole * Feb. 03 - Austin, TX - Mohawk * Feb. 04 - Dallas, TX - Trees * Feb. 05 - Oklahoma City, OK - Tower Theatre * Feb. 07 - Santa Fe, NM - Meow Wolf * Feb. 08 - Englewood, CO - Gothic Theatre * Feb. 09 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge * Feb. 11 - Seattle, WA - The Showbox * Feb. 12 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore ** Feb. 16 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall ** Feb. 17 - London, ON - London Music Hall ** Feb. 18 - Toronto, ON - Mod Club ** Feb. 21 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer ** Feb. 22 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club ** Feb. 23 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club ** Feb. 24 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Steel ** Mar. 02 - Utrecht, NL - Tivoli Vredenburg Mar. 03 - Hamburg, DE - Knust Mar. 04 - Berlin, DE - Gretchen Mar. 06 - Cologne, DE - Club Volta Mar. 07 - Zurich, CH - Bogen F Mar. 08 - Luxembourg, LX - Rotondes Mar. 09 - Paris, FR - Petit Bain Mar. 10 - Brussels, BE - Orangerie @ Botanique Mar. 11 - London, UK - The Dome Mar. 13 - Bristol, UK - Thekla Mar. 14 - Manchester, UK - YES (Pink Room) Mar. 15 - Dublin, IE - The Button Factory
* w/ Land of Talk ** w/ Jo Passed
[Photo Credit: Pamela Evelyn and Joseph Yarmush]
About Wolf Parade’s Thin Mind:
Every moment spent gazing at our screens is oversaturated with content, an ever-accelerated news cycle conditioning our ever-decreasing attention spans. The struggle to stay present, and to foresee a clear, sustainable future, feels very real.
Wolf Parade address this phenomenon head-on with Thin Mind, the band’s 5th full-length and second to be produced by John Goodmanson (Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney, Unwound).
“Thin Mind refers to the way that being around too much tech has made our focus thin,” says keyboardist Spencer Krug.
“It’s opening one more page, scrolling one more thing,” adds guitarist Dan Boeckner, “and the weird, sort-of hollow automaton feeling that you get from it.”
“This record is very personal, but at the same time, we’re all coming from the same place of a general sense of anxiety,” says drummer Arlen Thompson. “How do you deal with the constant barrage of having your opinions swayed by all these different actors when you don’t know who they are or what their purpose is? There is no normal anymore.”
Thin Mind marks a return to the original power trio of Dan, Spencer, and Arlen, following multi-instrumentalist Dante DeCaro’s amicable departure from the group in 2018, after the conclusion of their world tour supporting Cry Cry Cry.
One month later, the trio got together at Risqué Disque, an old stone barn-turned-studio in the woods of Vancouver Island, to begin writing Thin Mind—emerging with an album about making sense of the present while reckoning with visions of the future (read more at Sub Pop).
As required by what we can only assume must by some kind of law, we at Sub Pop Records are having a big ol’ sale starting on the Friday after Thanksgiving (aka TODAY, Nov. 29, 2019). This year’s Holiday Sale at the Sub Pop Mega Mart works a little differently, and we’re pretty excited about it. We hope you will be, too.
Here’s how it works…
Every day, for 15 days, starting on Friday, Nov. 29 and ending on Friday, December 13, we will be offering what we really hope is meaningfully discounted sale pricing on a different item or related group of items, FOR ONE DAY ONLY. And, during this same period of time, we will be offering FREE DOMESTIC SHIPPING on any order of $50 or more! That’s 15 days of different deals, with free domestic shipping on orders over $50! Which, naturally, we have decided to refer to as: Sub
Pop’s 2019 Holiday Daily Deal Days Doozy.
And, the first of our daily deal day deals really is a doozy…
And that’s just the first daily deal. New day, new deal. Check back often! Please!
Then, starting Dec. 14 and continuing on until January 6, 2020 we will be offering 20% off a specially selected selection of stuff, for your ongoing holiday shopping delight!
It’s a two-parter this year, gang. And, you can always find out what’s currently on sale here: megamart.subpop.com/holiday_sale.
Please note the following…
If there are any pre-order items in your cart at checkout, your entire order will not ship until the shipping date of the furthest out pre-order. That means your order will not ship until after the first of the year, and you will not receive any part of your order in time for the holidays. The solution to this is: place multiple orders.
And, all orders placed by December 17th are guaranteed to ship out before we close up shop for the year, so get your orders in early and often. Conversely, any orders placed between December 18th and January 5th will not ship out until after we are back at it in the new year on Jan. 6th, 2020.
Mudhoney have just announced a 15-date 2020 tour, in support of their Morning In America EP, which is available now worldwide from Sub Pop. The dates begin April 30th in Vancouver, BC at the Imperial and end May 16th in Seattle, WA at the Crocodile. Along the way, the band will co-headline a string of shows with Meat Puppets (May 7th-13th).
Apr. 30 - Vancouver, BC - The Imperial + May 01 - Victoria, BC - Capital Ballroom + May 02 - Bellingham, WA - The Wild Buffalo + May 03 - Olympia, WA - Capitol Theater + May 05 - Sacramento, CA - Harlow’s May 06 - Visalia, CA - The Cellar Door May 07 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore * May 08 - Los Angeles - CA - El Rey Theatre * May 09 - Tucson, AZ - 191 Toole * May 10 - Santa Fe, NM - Meow Wolf * May 12 - Denver, CO - Summit Music Hall * May 13 - Salt Lake City, UT - Commonwealth Room * May 14 - Boise, ID - Neurolux May 15 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom # May 16 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile + ^
* w/ Meat Puppets + w/ The Tripwires ^ w/ Thee Deception # w/ Minus Five
Mudhoney’s Morning in America is a new 7-song EP of tracks recorded during the sessions for Digital Garbage, their acclaimed album of 2018 (“…an astute, politically relevant and commendably fired-up garage punk belter of an LP,” – The Quietus). The tracks include “Let’s Kill Yourself Live Again” (an alternate version of the Digital Garbage stand-out “Kill Yourself Live,” and the bonus track for the Japanese CD version of that album), “One Bad Actor” (a new version of Mudhoney’s track on the limited-edition, and now very sold-out, SPF30 split 7” single w Hot Snakes), album outtakes “Snake Oil Charmer,” “Morning in America” and “Creeps Are Everywhere,” plus “Ensam I Natt” (“So Lonely Tonight,” a Leather Nun cover) and “Vortex of Lies” from a very limited, European tour 7”.
Morning in America has been released on 12” vinyl and through digital services, and is available from the Sub Pop Mega Mart now. The limited Loser Edition is on white vinyl marbled with black is available from megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers in North America, UK and Europe (the Loser Ed is silver vinyl in the UK/EU), while supplies last.
You can now listen to The Shins and Shannon Lay’s contributions to the Sub Pop Singles Club, which are available now for the first time at all DSPs.
The Shins release features remastered versions of three early recordings: “When I Goose-Step,” “The Gloating Sun” and the original version of “New Slang,” which was previously titled “When You Notice the Stripes.” All 3 songs were first available on a tour-only CD EP in 1999. Omnibus Records released “When I Goose-Step” b/w “The Gloating Sun” on a long out-of-print 7”, also in 1999. Listen here.
Meanwhile, “New Slang (When You Notice the Stripes)” was released by Sub Pop in February 2001 on a now out-of-print 7” single before the release of Oh, Inverted World, The Shins acclaimed label debut album, which recently just surpassed 1 million copies sold.
Shannon Lay’s “Blue” and “We Mend” were recorded during the sessions for August, her Sub Pop debut released earlier this year. Listen here.
“We Mend” is a song for healing. In those moments where everything seems broken, it can be hard to have perspective, but whether we know it or not everything will be ok. “Blue” is about the struggle of loving someone who is gone a lot. A gentle reassurance to one another that even if you’re not physically together, the love remains strong. “Blue” is also a reference to, as Shannon puts it, “the color of Marge Simpson’s hair. I’ve always admired her devotion and understanding.”
Guy Garvey, frontman of the UK band Elbow, premiered “Blue” earlier this week via his Sunday BBC6 radio show, and today revealed that August, Shannon’s Sub Pop debut, is his album of the year.
The Shins and Shannon Lay’s 7”’s are the December 2019 installments of the Sub Pop Singles Club, subscriptions to which are completely sold-out. However, you still have a chance to sign up for the Volume 5/2020-21 edition of the club, with an entirely new set of artists (subscribe here please).
The Sub Pop Singles Club is back for another round! We are now taking subscriptions for the fifth volume of our storied vinyl 7” subscription service. Join now to get 12 limited-edition, great-sounding, great-looking little records delivered straight to your mailbox between April 2020 and February 2021.
Just what the heck is this so-called “club,” you ask? Well, the short version is that intermittently, since 1988, Sub Pop has roped artists into letting us release a couple of their songs on the 7” vinyl format, resulting in releases by Nirvana, Soundgarden, L7, The White Stripes, Bright Eyes, and a ton more. We then shipped these singles to people who had the forethought to subscribe, in advance, to the Singles Club. Many of these singles have since become very rare and sought-after. (Ok, so a few haven’t, but who’s counting?) Most recently, we somehow pulled off the Sub Pop Singles Club Vol. 4, running from April 2019-February 2020 (and totally closed for subscriptions since February, so don’t ask!). You can hear many of the past Singles Club releases via the Sub Pop Singles Club Playlist.
The Sub Pop Singles Club Vol. 5 will keep this fine tradition of excellent new music and logistical headaches going for yet another year. These singles are one-time, limited pressings with exclusive tracks by each artist. Subscribe now or regret later!
12 vinyl 7” singles with artful packaging lovingly designed by the musicians and the Sub Pop art department!
A nice box to store them all in!
An official Sub Pop Singles Club Vol. 5 membership card!
Coolness! Conversation pieces! Things to have and hold over people who don’t have them! Relatives and acquaintances who are surprised to find out they still make those things! And other side-effects of record collecting!
How much? This much: $130 for the U.S. $170 for Canada $185 for Mexico $195 for the rest of the world. Shipping is included in each of those prices.
If you’re the gift-giving type, know that if you subscribe by December 16th we will have the membership card in the mail to you before we close for the holidays (which should - no guarantees - get it to addresses in the United States by Christmas).
Answers to frequently (and often aggressively) asked questions:
Subscribing is the only way to get the physical 7”s. They will not be available in stores.
You can subscribe from anywhere in the world.
You can purchase a subscription as a gift – simply enter the recipient’s name and address in the delivery address fields for your order.
Each single will be available for streaming and digital purchase two weeks after that single ships. But by then you will no longer be able to subscribe to the vinyl version. You should do that part now.
Subscriptions are exempt from any Mega Mart sale discounts.
You can buy a subscription in the same order as other items you wish to purchase from us. We will ship the rest of your order as soon as possible, but no Singles Club 7”s will ship until April 2020, when you’ll get the first two, with successive singles to follow in pairs every other month thereafter. (We are shipping two singles at a time, every other month, because shipping is expensive and we want this subscription to be relatively affordable.)
If you need to change your address at any point during your subscription, please email websales@subpop.com.
