Amen Dunes – the project of New York City-based Damon McMahon – releases “Round the World,” the centerpiece of new album, Death Jokes, out May 10th via Sub Pop, and announces a summer North American tour. “Round the World” is the album’s nine minute penultimate track and follows the “delicately lilting stunner” (PAPER) “Purple Land” and “Boys,” “an exciting step forward for Amen Dunes” (FADER). The video sees McMahon collaborating again with director Steven Brahms, who also directed the videos for Freedom’s “Believe” and “Miki Dora.”
“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 is a major departure, an ambitious electronic album that 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.
“Round the World” began to take shape with McMahon recording a voice memo in winter 2019 as he sang along to an improvised piano arrangement. The vocal came almost in full and was based around nine minutes of a constantly changing piano arrangement which took weeks to notate. McMahon couldn’t easily perform the piano part and tried to hire two different pianists to record it, but they weren’t able or willing. What first sounds like a heartbreak ballad — “Made up my mind/ I give up on you” — later warps into a ghostly dirge — “This world’s on fire/ Nothing seems true.” The haunted refrains of “round the world, round the world” and “let it rattle, let it rattle” sounded prophetic a few months later, when the pandemic took over around the world. The rest of the song features numerous samples, including a collection of Chilean protest recordings from the coup in 1973, a mash-up of Coil with Bill Monroe, Fairlight CMI string and horn, a slowed-down UK Garage track, and others. Country and folk music subtly appear throughout Death Jokes, and this song’s melody comes almost directly, and unconsciously, from the traditional song “There’s a Hole in the Bucket.”
One afternoon in July 2022 there was a massive thunderstorm in Woodstock, during which McMahon wrote and recorded the album’s title track, “Poor Cops,” and the final two minutes of “Round the World” all three of which contain the most significant samples on the record and speak most directly to the meaning of the album, which McMahon recently reflected on in the statement that follows:
Everybody wants everything to come so easily.
Everybody wants to be comfortable, but they’re so uncomfortable.
We have so much of everything that it means nothing.
We take so much that we get nothing at all.
Some of us find a way to have our voices heard, but most of us are just being used.
You think they’re hearing you, but they’re not.
You say be yourself, but you won’t break the rules.
Poor cops, don’t let them tell you what to do.
You would punch a lot harder if you stopped being so cynical.
Fuck when you fuck, punch when you punch, love when you say you love.
We talk about wanting inclusion, but we shout about it while we hide in our cells.
We talk about being manipulated, but we do so using their methods and means.
They want us to feel like we are heard, so they encourage us to attack each other.
They tell us self-obsession is self-expression.
You say no one cares about you, but you don’t care about them.
My songs are all death jokes, and will long outlive me.
They remind me not to take myself too seriously.
I barely wrote them anyway. So who am I kidding?
And when I break the rules and speak honestly to you because I love you, that joke might get me killed too.
There is more that’s tragic than what you think is tragic.
Wake up, live in love.
You say life is hard, but it’s a joke.
The world is not about to end, in fact it’s just beginning.
Following select shows in May 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. A full list of dates is below and tickets are on sale this Friday at 10am ET.
On Friday, April 12th, METZ will release Up On Gravity Hill, their first new album in four years, worldwide on Sub Pop and in Canada on Dine Alone. Today, the band is sharing an official video for the album highlight “Superior Mirage,” directed by John Andrews.
METZ frontman Alex Edkins shares this of the song, “It’s definitely new territory for us, and I really love the sounds we were able to achieve. We blended a Linn Drum with some homemade samples and made this ad-hoc junkyard drum sound that propels the song along. We really tried to make the backbeat the defining trait of the song. The lift on the chorus is pretty huge, too. We wanted the wall of guitars to knock you sideways.”
Up On Gravity Hill was engineered by Seth Manchester (Mdou Moctar, Lingua Ignota, Battles, The Body) and features guest performances from Amber Webber of Black Mountain and composer/string arranger Owen Pallett.
METZ, a band once known for blowing out eardrums with songs of joyous rage, have, over their past few records, begun exploring ways to turn abrasiveness into atmospherics, the evolution of their sound not only a reflection of the maturing of the band themselves but also of a changed world that demands nuance and compassion to comprehend and to survive. This is so on their latest effort, Up On Gravity Hill, which finds the band continuing to bend the raw power of rock music to its most delicate, intricate ends. Delivering a deep, detailed, and unyieldingly personal collection of songs that are fused together to form not only METZ’s most powerful record to date but also their most beautiful.
As previously announced, METZ has a headlining international tour scheduled supporting Up On Gravity Hill, with dates in North America from April 17th to May 17th and a run of UK and EU dates in the fall from November 3rd through November 29th. The band also has a series of UK and EU festival performances in August, including stops at The Green Man Festival in the UK, La Route Du Rock and Cabaret Vert Festival in France, and the Canela Party in Spain. See below for a full list of shows.
North America Fri. Apr. 12 - Toronto, ON - Sonic Boom Records - FREE In-Store Performance at 6pm Wed. Apr. 17 - Boston, MA - Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theatre $ Thurs. Apr. 18 - Troy, NY - No Fun $ Fri. Apr. 19 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom $ Sat. Apr. 20 - Philadelphia, PA - Underground Arts $ * Sun. Apr. 21 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar $ Tue. Apr. 23 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl $ Thu. Apr. 24 - Birmingham, AL - Saturn $ Fri. Apr. 25 - Fayetteville, AR - George’s Majestic Lounge $ Sat. Apr. 26 - Austin, TX - The Parish (Austin Psych Fest) $ Sun. Apr. 27 - Dallas, TX - Sons of Hermann Hall $ Mon. Apr. 29 - Sante Fe, NM - Meow Wolf $ Tues. Apr. 30 - Phoenix, AZ - Valley Bar $ Wed. - May 01 - San Diego, CA - The Casbah $ Tue. May 02 - Los Angeles, CA - 1720 $ Wed. May 03 - San Jose, CA - The Ritz $ Thu. May 04 - San Francisco, CA - The Chapel $ Mon. May 06 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom $ Tue. May 07 - Seattle, WA - Neumos $ Fri. May 10 - St. Paul, MN - Turf Club $ Sat. May 11 - Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge $ Thu. May 16 - Montreal, QC - Theatre Fairmount $ Sat. May 17 - Toronto, ON - Danforth Music Hall $
$ w/ Gouge Away * w/ Rid of Me
UK/EU Thu. Aug. 15 - Crickhowell, UK - Green Man Festival Fri. Aug. 16 - St Malo, FR La Route Du Rock Sat. Aug. 17 - Charleville-Mezières, FR - Cabaret Vert Festival Fri. Aug. 23 - Malaga, ES - Canela Party Sat. Nov. 02 - Rennes, FR – L’Antipode Sun. Nov. 03 - La Rochelle, FR - La Sirène Mon. Nov. 04 - Paris, FR - La Maroquinerie Tue. Nov. 05 - Clermont-Ferrand, FR - La Coopérative de Mai Wed. Nov. 06 - Lyon, FR - Le Transbordeur Thu. Nov. 07 - Zurich, CH - Bogen F Sat. Nov. 09 - Prague, CZ - Futurum Sun. Nov. 10 - Budapest, HU - Turbina Tue. Nov. 12 - Krakow, PL - Klub Zascianek Wed. Nov. 13 - Warsaw, PL - Klub Hydrozagadka Sat. Nov. 16 - Berlin, DE - Hole44 Mon. Nov. 18 - Copenhagen, DK - Loppen Tue. Nov. 19 - Hamburg, DE - Hafenklang Wed. Nov. 20 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso Thu. Nov. 21 - Groningen, NL - Vera Fri. Nov. 22- Antwerp, BE - Trix Sat. Nov. 23 - Lille, FR - L’Aéronef Mon. Nov. 25 - Birmingham, UK - Hare & Hounds % Tue. Nov. 26 - Leeds, UK - Brudenell Social Club % Wed. Nov. 27 - Birkenhead, UK - Future Yard % Thu. Nov. 28 - Bristol, UK - Strange Brew % Fri. Nov. 29 - London, UK - Village Underground %
% THE NONE
Up On Gravity Hill is available to preorder now on CD/LP/DSPs from Sub Pop. LP preorders from megamart.subpop.com, and select independent retailers will receive the Loser Edition on Clear w/ Red Splatter vinyl. LP orders from independent retail stores & Mega Mart 2 in the UK and Europe will receive the Loser Edition on Opaque Yellow vinyl. A half-red/half-black LP from Dine Alone is also available in Canada. All three vinyl colors can also be purchased at the band’s live shows. All colored vinyl versions are available while stock lasts!
Tracklisting: 1. No Reservation / Love Comes Crashing 2. Glass Eye 3. Entwined (Street Light Buzz) 4. 99 5. Superior Mirage 6. Wound Tight 7. Never Still Again 8. Light Your Way Home
Please join us in celebrating these winning Losers!
Hundreds of impressive applications came across our virtual desks this year, which made finding our Loser Winners no easy task. Our Looser Chooser (TM) scholarship committee spent hours reading through an exceptional bunch of applications and at the end of a very difficult decision-making process, the committee has come up with three ultramega-OK, life-affirming scholarship winners. Congratulations to the winners and a huge, heartfelt thanks to all who took the time to apply, you have inspired us beyond belief!
In no particular order, we are thrilled to present our Loser Scholarship winners:
Lilianna from Richland, WA’s application stood out to us due her dedication to her community. From starting a charity with her mom (shoutout to the Little Fence of Hope!) to pursuing a student teaching internship, Lilianna has been positively impacting her community from a young age and has inspired us all. As if that wasn’t enough, her artwork is amazing as well! We’re so happy people like you exist in the world. Give it up for this Loser!
Hayden is a producer and rapper from Portland, OR. We could feel Hayden’s love of music radiating from the tracks he sent us. We were blown away by how much he does: rapping, producing, directing, acting, writing, etc. His passion was evident by the track by track descriptions he sent us in addition to his essay. We can’t wait to see how far his drive and creativity takes him. Congrats Loser!
Elliott is a musician and visual artist from Camas, WA. We loved hearing how Elliott was inspired by the local music scene in his area. We thought his visual art, inspired by punk zines, was absolutely killer. We were psyched to hear that Elliott is running a school-wide talent show in hopes of fostering a community of “Losers” at his school. We have no doubt that Elliott has a bright future ahead of him. We’re thrilled to call him a Loser Winner!
For those losers who didn’t win this year, thanks for playing, we loved your applications too, and know many of you will go on to inspire us in your future endeavors.
Today, Iron & Wine is sharing the third listen from its forthcoming album Light Verse, entitled “Anyone’s Game,” along with an accompanying stop-motion-styled animated visual directed by Callum Scott-Dyson. The album’s first two listens reveled in what many know as classic Iron & Wine melodic structures, whereas “Anyone’s Game” draws more on the percussive and bass-driven sound the band became known for on releases like Woman King and The Shepherd’s Dog. The video’s playful nature has an almost Monty Python intro style; Scott-Dyson in explaining his process for the video says,“I used card cutouts in terms of the stop motion style, hand drawing the elements before cutting out and animating them. I wanted the video to explore themes of evolution, the cyclical nature of life, falling in love and break ups, as well as life sometimes feeling like a game of chance.”
Light Verse is a ten-track collection produced by Sam Beam and mixed and engineered by Dave Way at Waystation and Silent Zoo Studios in Los Angeles. Light Verse is the first full-length Iron & Wine release in over seven years and follows his two Grammy-nominated releases, 2017’s Beast Epic and 2018’s Weed Garden EP.
With Light Verse, Beam’s lyrics once again draw on a series of fictional and personal insights, filled with desperate characters and wide-eyed optimists, offering promise and a dose of heartache, tears and laughter, life, and love.
Where Beast Epic and Weed Garden gave air to the disquiet of middle-aged frailty and brokenness, Light Verse’s songs trade that for the focus acceptance can bring. Fashioned as an album that should be taken as a whole, Light Verse sounds lovingly handmade and self-assured as a secret handshake. Track by track, its equal parts elegy, kaleidoscope, truth and dare.
Iron & Wine’s previously announced international headlining tour begins with a North American run on Friday, June 14th in Milwaukee, WI at The Pabst Theatre and ends Saturday, August 24th in Nashville, TN at The Ryman.
Iron & Wine will then take the Light Verse tour to the UK and EU this fall, which begins October 22nd in Belfast, Ireland at Mandela Hall and ends November 15th in Antwerp, Belgium at De Roma. Support acts for the North American dates will be Ken Pomeroy, Amythyst Kiah, Rosali and Sunny War, and in the EU will come from Lizzie No.
North America Summer 2024 Fri. Jun. 14 - Milwaukee, WI - The Pabst Theater % Sat. Jun. 15 - St Paul, MN - Palace Theatre % Mon. Jun. 17 - Denver, CO - Mission Ballroom * Tue. Jun. 18 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Union * Thu. Jun. 20 - Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre * Fri. Jun. 21 - Portland, OR - McMenamins Crystal Ballroom * Sat. Jun. 22 - Portland, OR - McMenamins Crystal Ballroom * Sun. Jun. 23 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom * Tue. Jun. 25 - Oakland, CA - Fox Theater * Thur. Jun. 27 - Monterey, CA - Golden State Theatre * Fri. Jun. 28 - Los Angeles, CA - The Bellwether * Sat. Jun. 29 - Los Angeles, CA - The Bellwether * Sun. Jun. 30 - El Cajon, CA - The Magnolia * Tue. Jul. 02 - Phoenix, AZ - The Van Buren * Wed. Jul. 03 - Taos, NM - Kit Carson Park (support for Avett Brothers) Fri. Jul. 05 - Tulsa, OK - Cain’s Ballroom * Sat. Jul. 06 - St Louis, MO - The Pageant * Mon. Jul. 08 - Chicago, IL - The Salt Shed * Wed. Jul. 31 - New Orleans, LA - Orpheum Theater ! Thu. Aug. 01 - Houston, TX- White Oak Music Hall ! Fri. Aug. 02 - Austin, TX - ACL Live at the Moody Theater ! Sat. Aug. 03 - Dallas, TX - Majestic Theatre ! Mon. Aug. 05 - Atlanta, GA - The Eastern ! Tue. Aug. 06 - Wilmington, NC - Wilson Center at CFCC ! Wed. Aug. 07 - Raleigh, NC - Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts ! Fri. Aug. 09 - Washington, DC - The Anthem ! Sat. Aug. 10 - Philadelphia, PA - The Fillmore Philadelphia ! Sun. Aug. 11 - Boston, MA - Roadrunner ! Tue. Aug. 13 - New Haven, CT - College Street Music Hall # Wed. Aug. 14 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Paramount # Fri. Aug. 16 - Montreal, QC - MTELUS # Sat. Aug. 17 - Toronto, ON - The Danforth Music Hall # Sun. Aug. 18 - Detroit, MI - Masonic Cathedral Theatre # Tue. Aug. 20 - Cleveland, OH - Agora Theatre # Thu. Aug. 22 - Indianapolis, IN - Egyptian Room at Old National Centre # Fri. Aug. 23 - Louisville, KY - Old Forester’s Paristown Hall # Sat. Aug. 24 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium #
% w/ Ken Pomeroy * w/ Amythyst Kiah ! w/ Rosali # w/ Sunny War
UK/EU Fall 2024 Tue. Oct. 22 - Belfast, UK - Mandela Hall Wed. Oct. 23 - Dublin, IE - Vicar Street Fri. Oct. 25 - Edinburgh, UK - Queens Hall Sat. Oct. 26 - Manchester, UK - New Century Hall Sun. Oct. 27 - Bristol, UK - SWX Tue. Oct. 29 - Birmingham, UK - Birmingham Town Hall Wed. Oct. 30 - London, UK - London Palladium Thu. Oct. 31 - Cambridge, UK - Junction Sat. Nov. 02 - Groningen, NL - Take Root Festival Mon. Nov. 04 - Copenhagen, DK - DR Koncerthuset + Tue. Nov. 05 - Stockholm, SE - Göta Lejon + Wed. Nov. 06 - Oslo, NO - Rockefeller + Thu. Nov. 07 - Gothenburg, SE - Pustervik + Sat. Nov. 09 - Hamburg, DE - Fabrik + Mon. Nov. 11 Berlin, DE - Huxleys + Tue. Nov. 12 - Cologne, DE - Bürgerhaus stollwerck + Thu. Nov 14 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso + Fri. Nov. 15 - Antwerp, BE - De Roma +
+ w/ Lizzie No
Recently, Iron & Wine released “All in Good Time,” a glorious standout from Light Verse in which Fiona Apple lends her voice and written by Beam in the vein of classic call-and-response style duets made famous by Dolly and Kenny and George and Tammy. The New York Times said, “Somewhere between a hymn and a sea chantey, “All in Good Time”…has Sam Beam’s earnest tenor and Fiona Apple’s huskiest alto trading lines about togetherness, estrangement, shared memories and lessons learned…Piano chords ring and strings swell as the song’s two ex-partners harmonize to find, if not reconciliation, a mature sense of resignation.”
Iron & Wine’s Who Can See Forever soundtrack is also available from Sub Pop. The documentary concert film is being released theatrically throughout North America by Abramorama after a string of sold-out screenings in select markets like New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Denver. Who Can See Forever will continue its theatrical run throughout 2024 before platforming to streaming services later in the year (see full a current list of dates here).
Light Verse will be out April 26th and is available to preorder on CD/LP/digitally worldwide from Sub Pop.
Iron & Wine Light Verse
Tracklisting: 1. You Never Know 2. Anyone’s Game 3. All in Good Time (Feat. Fiona Apple) 4. Cutting It Close 5. Taken by Surprise 6. Yellow Jacket 7. Sweet Talk 8. Tears that Don’t Matter 9. Bag of Cats 10. Angels Go Home
La Luz - the band led by Shana Cleveland – has dropped a new single today titled “Poppies.” The baroque Sergeant Peppers-esque pop song has an air of dystopian surrealness that colors much of La Luz’s new material. The single comes on the heels of their recently announced new album, News of the Universe, out May 24. The LP marks their first for Sub Pop. Fans can pre-order the album HERE.
Poppies is about the surreal feeling of going through the horror and isolation of a cancer diagnosis and treatment and then suddenly being out in the bright world again, trying to make sense of it all, feeling like I’m walking through a waking dream, seeing the first wildflowers come out and feeling a similar sense of rebirth.
With a credo adapted from science fiction author Octavia E. Butler, an album title from a collection of metaphysical poetry, and an expansion in consciousness brought on by personal crisis, News of the Universe finds guitarist and songwriter Cleveland embracing a changing world with unconditional love. News of the Universe is also a record born of calamity, a work of dark, beautiful psychedelia reflecting Cleveland’s experience of having her world blown apart by a breast cancer diagnosis just two years after the birth of her son.
La Luz will be touring North America, Europe, and the UK in support of News of the Universe, and the first run of dates will kick off May 23 in Barcelona. The band’s first show stateside is on May 30 at The Crocodile in Seattle, WA for a Record Release Show. Their touring goes into full swing starting on September 26 for a show in Chicago, IL, stopping at Brooklyn’s Elsewhere on October 9, before concluding with a 2-night run at Lodge Room in Los Angeles, CA, on November 8 and 9. All shows are listed below.
Formed by Cleveland in 2012, La Luz is beloved for their ability to balance bedlam and bliss, each new record another fine-tuning of the band’s mix of swaggering riffs with angelic vocals borrowed from doo-wop and folk; a band so reliably great that it makes the huge step forward in confidence and sheer musicality that is News of the Universe all the more formidable. Cleveland, also a writer and painter, has developed into a truly original songwriter with her own canon of haunted psychedelia that, in recent years, has drawn upon the changing landscape around her rural California home for inspiration, notably on last year’s critically acclaimed solo release, Manzanita, a magical realist documentation of her pregnancy and early motherhood that appeared on many year-end lists.
Sonically, the record is all urgency. Songs trip over themselves as if trying to outrun the apocalypse. The powerful sense of openness that permeates News of the Universe is at least partially due to the fact that it is a record made entirely by women—from the performing, writing, and producing all the way through to the recording, engineering, and mastering. “There is something inherently and simultaneously sweet and brutal about womanhood,” says Cleveland. “That is something I hear on this record.”
Working with producer Maryam Qudus (Spacemoth), the all-female environment allowed Cleveland to feel safe tapping into difficult places and expressing hard emotions women are socialized to suppress. Unashamedly vulnerable, unabashedly feminine, and undeniably triumphant, News of the Universe is another knockout record from a band so reliably great that it has perhaps led people to overlook how pioneering La Luz really are: women of color in indie music forging their own path by following their own artistic star into galaxies beyond current musical trends, always led by an earnest belief in the cosmic power of love and a great riff. Never is that more true than on News of the Universe, which might be La Luz’s most brutal record to date but also their most blissful. After everything, how could it not?
La Luz Tour Dates
05/23 Barcelona, ES @ Sala Upload
05/24 Madrid, ES @ Tomavistas Festival
05/25 London, UK @ Wide Awake Festival
05/30 Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile (Record Release Show)
07/27 Portland, OR @ Project Pabst
08/30 Brighton, UK @ Brighton Psych Fest
08/31 Manchester, UK @ Manchester Psych Fest
09/01 Edinburgh, UK @ Edinburgh Psych Fest
09/03 Bristol, UK @ Strange Brew
09/05 Paris, FR @ Point Ephemere
09/06 Sart-Messire-Guillaume, BE @ SMG Music Fest
09/07 Asten-Heusden, NL @ Misty Fields Festival
09/08 Amsterdam, NL @ Indiestadt x Sugar Mountain @ Paradiso
09/10 Cologne, DE @ Bumann & SOHN
09/11 Hamburg, DE @ Prinzenbar
09/12 Berlin, DE @ Badehaus
09/13 Schorndorf, DE @ Manufaktur
09/14 Zürich, DE @ Bogen
09/26 Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
09/27 Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon
09/28 St. Paul, MM @ Turf Club
09/30 St. Louis, MO @ Blueberry Hill
10/01 Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar
10/02 Nashville, TN @ The End
10/03 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade - Purgatory
10/04 Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall
10/05 Richmond, VA @ Richmond Music Hall
10/06 Washington, DC @ The Atlantis
10/08 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
10/09 Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere - Hall
10/10 Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
10/11 Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz
10/12 Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
10/13 Ferndale, MI @ The Loving Touch
10/28 Denver, CO @ Marquis
10/30 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
10/31 Boise, ID @ The Olympic
11/03 Vancouver, BC @ The Pearl
11/06 Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s
11/07 San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
11/08 Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room
11/09 Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room
News of the Universe is available to preorder now on CD/LP/DSPs from Sub Pop. The album can be pre-ordered in North America from megamart.subpop.com, select independent retailers, and the band’s website, and in Europe and the UK from independent retail stores, and Mega Mart 2 (the new, UK-based sibling site to the world-famous Sub Pop Mega Mart), with vinyl available on limited variants. All colored vinyl versions are available while stock lasts.
