You can now listen to Shearwater’s “Only Child”, the newest track from forthcoming album, Jet Plane and Oxbow, out January 22nd worldwide on Sub Pop.

DIY had this to say about the song, “Latest track Only Child is a vast escape. Every last note is thrown into the skies, every giant declaration worthy adventure. More than anything, this is loud. Tone it down if you want, but the song and the record sound best when they’re pushed to the limit.” (see track premiere January 11th).”  Note: German fans can listen via VISIONS Magazin.

Shearwater’s 2016 North American and European tour in support of Jet Plane and Oxbow begins February 3rd in Austin, TX at North Door and currently ends March 26th in Portland, OR at Mississippi Studios. Main support will come from Barsuk recording artist Laura Gibson (March 16th - 19th). See the full tour listing below.

Jet Plane and Oxbow is now available for pre-order through Sub Pop Mega Mart, iTunes, and Amazon. LP preorders though megamart.subpop.com will receive the limited “Loser” edition on blue colored vinyl while supplies last.

Oh and hey, pre ordering Jet Plane and Oxbow earns you immediate access (as of Jan. 8th) to stream the album before its street date, and provides access to an exclusive Shearwater podcast, “Headwaters,” which features demos and outtakes from the new record and a conversation between Meiburg and WNYC’s John Schaefer (host of New Sounds and the Soundcheck podcast). An edited version compiled and broadcast by Schaefer is available for streaming on the WNYC site.

[Photo Credit: Sarah Cass]

More about Shearwater:

This is definitely Shearwater’s biggest and loudest record—it’s easy to imagine these songs roaring from the stage—but it’s also their most detailed and intricate one. Front man Jonathan Meiburg and producer/engineer Reisch (who also recorded 2012’s Animal Joy and the off-the-cuff collaborations of 2014’s Fellow Travelers) spent two years crafting Jet Plane and Oxbow with help from drummer Cully Symington, longtime Shearwater associates Howard Draper and Lucas Oswald, and tourmates Jesca Hoop, Abram Shook, and Jenn Wasner.

But their secret weapon this time is film composer and percussionist Brian Reitzell, whose soundtracks include The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation, The Bling Ring, and 30 Days of Night. Reitzell’s arsenal of strange instruments emphasizes Jet Plane and Oxbow’s cinematic depth and scope, and reflects the band’s choice to anchor the record in the era when digital technology was just beginning to transform the world of recorded music. In Shearwater’s hands this doesn’t feel like nostalgia; the racing synths and hammered dulcimers of heart-pounding opener “Prime” or the addled motorik of “Radio Silence” sound more like a metaphor for our own bewildering moment (read more at Sub Pop).

Tour Dates

Feb. 03 - Austin, TX - North Door (w/ Marmalakes)    
Feb. 04 - Dallas, TX - Club Dada (w/ Marmalakes)
Feb. 06 - New York, NY - Mercury Lounge (w/ Jib Kidder)
Feb. 10 - Berlin, DE - Frannz Club
Feb. 11 - Copenhagen, DK - Loppen
Feb. 12 - Hamburg, DE -  Molotow
Feb. 13 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso Noord
Feb. 14 - Brussels. BE - Botanique
Feb. 16 - Lille, FR - L’Aeronef
Feb. 17 - London, UK - Islington Assembly Hall
Feb. 18 - Bristol, UK -  The Fleece
Feb. 19 - Leeds, UK - The Brudenell Social Club
Feb. 20 - Glasgow, UK - King Tuts
Feb. 21 - Newcastle, UK - The Cluny
Feb. 23 - Dublin, IE -  Button Factory
Feb. 24 -Manchester , UK - Night & Day
Feb. 25 - Brighton, UK - The Haunt
Feb. 26 - Paris, FR -  Point Ephémère
Feb. 27 - Zurich, CH - Bogen F
Feb. 28 - Fribourg, CH - Nouveau Monde
Mar. 04 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent
Mar. 05 - Los Angeles, CA - Roxy
Mar. 10 - Washington, DC  - Rock and Roll Hotel
Mar. 12 - Brooklyn, NY - Bell House 
Mar. 16 - Pittsburgh, PA - Club Cafe**
Mar. 17 - Toronto, ON - Horseshoe Tavern**
Mar. 18 - Ferndale, MI - The Loving Touch**
Mar. 19 - Chicago, IL - Schubas**
Mar. 22 - Minneapolis, MN - Turf Club
Mar. 25 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile
Mar. 26 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios
** w/ Laura Gibson

For ticket info head over here.

On March 18th, former Smith Western frontman Cullen Omori will release his debut LP, New Misery, worldwide on CD / LP / DL via Sub Pop Records. The album, which features the highlights “Cinnamon” and “Sour Silk” was recorded by Shane Stoneback (Sleigh Bells, Fucked Up, and Vampire Weekend) at the now defunct Treefort Studios, and was mastered by Emily Lazar (Sia, HAIM, Vampire Weekend, Arcade Fire, and Bjork) at The Lodge. 

The debut video for “Cinnamon” - directed by Abigail Briley Bean - premiered today (see January 7th Pitchfork News Story).

Omori began working on solo material in early 2014 which has now fully materialized as New Misery, a collection of 11 songs building upon his own musical past while reaching towards the future of what guitar rock could be. His songs marry dark yet blissful pop with vocal melodies and hooks that are at once immediate yet demand to be heard again and again.
 
Cullen and his band have scheduled a 4-week spring tour in support of New Misery, which begins March 24th in Chicago, IL at Lincoln Hall and currently ends April 24th in Toronto, ON at the Horseshoe. Preceding the tour is a string of midwestern dates that run from February 3rd in Indianapolis at The Hi Fi through February 5th in Champaign, IL at The Accord. Additionally, Cullen will appear at the 2016 edition of SXSW in Austin, Texas. (tour details below)

 
You can now pre-order New Misery through Sub Pop Mega Mart,iTunes, Google Play, Amazon and Bandcamp. LP pre-orders though megamart.subpop.com will receive the limited “Loser” edition on clear vinyl with black, white and gold swirls (while supplies last).

More on Cullen Omori:
Cullen Omori knows it’s a false cliche to say there are no second acts in American lives, but after the 2014 breakup of his acclaimed band the Smith Westerns, living that cliche was his greatest fear. His solo debut New Misery, out March 18 on Sub Pop Records, is a direct challenge to that anxiety: an album that goes beyond the glam punch of the Smith Westerns to new sounds, new sources of inspiration, and greater self-awareness.

Photo credit: Alexa Lopez

“I had this overwhelming feeling that perhaps the apex of my life both as a musician and as an individual would be relegated to five years in my late teens/early 20s,” says Omori, who was launched into the music industry when the Smith Westerns, who started in high school in Chicago, became fast-rising indie stars. “This fear really forced me to work hard as to not see the Smith Westerns as an end but as a point along a bigger trajectory.”
 
While New Misery grew out of a difficult personal and professional time for Omori, he says the title reflects “not so much the distress that comes with failure, but the troubles and complexities that come with any type of success. No matter what you get you’re going to want more, you’re going to want something different. That’s the catch.”
 
The title track is a dreamy, resonant reflection on these feelings, but is also a guidepost for Omori’s musical evolution. “The song starts slow and then builds with two solos,” he says. “There’s the guitar solo which is very much a Smith Westerns thing. The next solo is on the keyboard, which is a shift to a lot of what I’m trying to do.” Synths play a much larger role in Omori’s new music than in the Smith Westerns’ guitar-fueled rock, as do a wide range of influences including Roxy Music, INXS, Spiritualized, Wilco, Garbage, Hall & Oates, Kate Bush, U2, and Sparks. There’s also a more deliberate pop streak, inspired by the top-40 radio that would play while Omori worked at a medical supply company cleaning stretchers and wheelchairs.
 
“There is so much dirt in hospitals and fuzz and lint and dried blood on these things. We’d clean them down, which in a way is kind of therapeutic, and listen to the radio. Then we’d go back to Adam’s (Adam Gil, current live band member) house and record demos for what was to become the skeleton of New Misery. I can’t  sit down and say I’m going to write a Sam Smith or an Adele song or whatever. The closest I can get to that is making like this weird hybrid of what I think is a pop song.” The strongest example of this is the new wave-tinged single “Cinnamon,” which Omori describes as “dark pop–it’s poppy, it’s fast, but it also has all the colors and tones that are kind of dark. It’s self-deprecating, which was kind of where I was at emotionally. That, you know, I could have this poppy song or whatever but I don’t think I’m a pop star. I’m closer to thinking I’m a piece of shit than I am a pop star.”
 
Along with Omori, New Misery features additional bass and keyboards from Ryan Mattos, drums from Loren Humphrey, and James Richardson on guitar. But unlike with the more distributed roles within the Smith Westerns, Omori wrote, played, and oversaw nearly every part of the new album, beginning a true new chapter of his long-term creative growth.
 
“People would be like, ‘Oh man, your band is doing really well. I saw you on the internet.’ But seeing you on the internet isn’t equivalent with making hundreds let alone thousands of dollars or being really successful. When I was younger I believed that happiness came from success and now that I’m older, more seasoned I find myself believing that stability over a long time is also its own type of success. I came out of Smith Westerns at 25 with no real job experience, I only knew how to play music. Writing and recording these songs for myself was cathartic, and I didn’t know my destination or future, but picking up my guitar and playing was the only way I knew I’d get close to figuring it out.
 
Tour Dates
Feb. 03 - Indianapolis, IN - The Hi-Fi
Feb. 04 - Milwaukee, WI - Cactus Club
Feb. 05 - Champaign, IL - The Accord
Mar. 24 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
Mar. 25 - Madison, WI - High Noon
Mar. 26 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th St. Entry
Mar. 28 - Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
Mar. 29 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
Mar. 30 - Boise, ID - Neurolux
Apr. 01 - Seattle, WA - Barboza
Apr. 02 - Vancouver, BC - Fortune Sound Club
Apr. 03 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir
Apr. 05 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent
Apr. 07 - Los Angeles, CA - Telegram Ballroom
Apr. 08 - San Diego, CA - Casbah
Apr. 09 - Phoenix, AZ - Valley Bar
Apr. 11 - Austin, TX - Stubb’s Jr
Apr. 12 - Dallas, TX - Prophet Bar
Apr. 13 - Houston, TX - Raven Tower
Apr. 15 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl
Apr. 16 - Nashville, TN - High Watt
Apr. 17 - Columbus, OH - The Basement
Apr. 18 - DC, Washington - DC9
Apr. 19 - Philadelphia, PA - Boot & Saddle
Apr. 21 - Boston, MA - Great Scott
Apr. 22 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
Apr. 24 - Toronto, ON - Horseshoe Tavern

So Pitted have shared, “feed me”, a new track from neo, their forthcoming Sub Pop debut. 

 
The band have also just added European tour dates to their 2016 tour schedule, beginning March 4th in Paris at Mecanique Ondulatoire and ending March 12th in Berlin at West Germany.
 
Their U.S. tour continues this Friday, January 8th, with a show in Brooklyn at Palisades and ends January 12th in Philadelphia at First Unitarian Church. Highlights along the way include a few dates with label mates METZ and Startime International recording artists Bully (January 9; 11-12). Additionally, the band will appear at SXSW. (detailed tour info below)
 
You can also watch the band’s live performance of “rot in hell”, which was filmed at The Echo in Los Angeles for Red Bull Sound Select’s “30 Days in LA Festival (see Pitchfork TV November 24th).”

Sub Pop will release neo on CD / LP / DL worldwide on February 19th, 2016. You can (and should) preorder now from Sub Pop Mega Mart, iTunes, Amazon, Bandcamp and Google Play. And remember: LP preorders of neo through megamart.subpop.com will receive the limited “Loser” edition on white vinyl while supplies last. There will also be a time-limited edition T-shirt, hand-bleached by So Pitted, that is available only during pre-order so time, as they say, is of the essence.
 
More about So Pitted’s neo:
These eleven tracks are lean and snarling rebukes, torch songs not in the traditional, unrequited-love sense, but songs that will torch your fucking house down. Screams and howls overtake chants and muttering, equal parts dejection, rejection, and convection, the hot, muggy air circling continuously. It’s fuzzy, angular, throbbing, and pounding, and still, ingrained in the songs by their makers, breathes that catchy quality present in so much of the music they love. Songs like “holding the void,” “rot in hell,” and “woe” crash over and over, turning under themselves like waves, but as the measures tick off, the dog-eared melodies and familiar themes begin to reveal (read more at Sub Pop).

What have “the people” said about So Pitted?  Glad you asked:
“Ragged, nonlinear, a little dangerous, “rot in hell” was one of the first tracks So Pitted wrote together, and the video is funny and surreal, featuring a friend of the band playing various band members. It feels like being at home at a basement show, ready to hit your head on a low ceiling bringing your amp down the stairs, buzzing with a little bit of nausea and excitement. It burns with the urgency of the music you need to make or you’ll crumple, music you’d be making whether other people heard it or not.” [“rot in hell”] - Impose
 
“It’s grimy and tormented all right, but intent on subverting the many adolescent cliches and connotations that come with grunge.” [“rot in hell”] -The Guardian
 
“…A raucous, inspiring noise, the buzzsaw melody is matched to wailing feedback - imagine Bikini Kill set against early Mary Chain and you’d probably be in the same ballpark.” [‘rot in hell”] - Clash Music
 
“…making a name for themselves with a sneery, warped, post-apocalyptic punk sound and wild stage show.” - Brooklyn Vegan
 
“So Pitted’s set called to mind Metz, Minutemen, Big Black, Pere Ubu, and Nirvana at their wildest” - FLOOD
 
“[A] Seattle trio who are basically unmatched in terms of sheer gonzo ingenuity. Live, the band combines anarchic heaps of guitar and childish melodies with plodding, sludgy rhythms. They understand just how powerful their live show is, too” - Portland Mercury
 
“What’s special and unique about So Pitted is that they not only clench to the demonic punk downpour and logger-heavy rock of the Northwest, but also to the nihilistic musical cannibalism of San Francisco weirdos Chrome and late-’90s San Diego artcore groups like the VSS and the Gravity Records camp. There’s a caustic demo quality to their sound that’s alien and distorted, liquidated to move units at the Gross Out. It’s not only thorny, horny, and repulsive, but angular, tangled and mangled.”  - The Stranger
 

Tour Dates
Jan. 08 - Brooklyn, NY - Palisades
Jan. 09 - Boston - The Sinclair *
Jan. 11 - Washington, D.C. - Rock & Roll Hotel *
Jan. 12 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church *
Mar. 04 - Paris, FR - Mecanique Ondulatoire
Mar. 05 - Amsterdam, NL - Butcher’s Tears
Mar. 07 - London, UK - The Shacklewell Arms (Free Show)
Mar. 08 - Leeds, UK - Brudenell Games Room (Free Show)
Mar. 10 - Lille, UK - La Peniche
Mar. 11 - Brussells, BE - Homepluged
Mar. 12 - Berlin, DE - West Germany
Mar. 15 - Austin, TX - SXSW
Mar. 16 - Austin, TX - SXSW
Mar. 17 - Austin, TX - SXSW
Mar. 18 - Austin, TX - SXSW
Mar. 19 - Austin, TX - SXSW
Mar. 20 - Austin, TX - SXSW
* w/ METZ + Bully

For more tour details + links, go here.