Amen Dunes announces new album ‘Death Jokes’ alongside lead single
The New York-based artist Damon McMahon has announced details of his new album as Amen Dunes following a six-year hiatus. Titled Death Jokes, the album is scheduled for release on May 10th via Sub Pop, marking Dunes’ inaugural full-length collaboration with the renowned Seattle-based label.
In celebration, McMahon has treated fans to the album’s lead single, ‘Purple Land’, accompanied by a visually captivating music video directed by Julian Klincewicz.
Death Jokes marks the long-awaited follow-up to Amen Dunes’ acclaimed 2018 album, Freedom. In 2021, McMahon signed with Sub Pop and unveiled the standalone single ‘Feel Nothing’, featuring Jason Williamson of Sleaford Mods. Notably, this track, co-produced by Ariel Rechtshaid, will not appear on Death Jokes.
Since releasing Freedom, McMahon has created 14 new tracks for Death Jokes. The past five years have thrown several inhibitory hurdles his way, including a tough battle with Covid-19, the birth of his first child, and a move from Los Angeles to Woodstock, New York. Working sporadically on the new LP, he collaborated with bassist Sam Wilke and producers Christoffer Berg, Kwake Bass, Panoram, and Money Mark.
Dissecting the album’s lead single in a new press statement, McMahon said, “‘Purple Land’ is one of the album’s interstitial character portraits: first of a child, then the narrator, and then of an empowered figure as they all navigate and find liberation from the disconnection and disenchantment of an uncertain world.”
“It begins first as a song to my daughter about life on earth, offering platitudes, warnings, and guidance through its various stages, until it becomes a reflection on the narrator’s own uncertainties as he moves through the world, ending finally with a character Rhea Anne who exemplifies liberation from it all in a moment of simple reckless freedom, as the beat drops in the final minute of the song,” he added.
Listen to ‘Purple Land’ below.
Amen Dunes tour dates:
- May 8th – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
- May 10th – Los Angeles, CA – The Bellwether
- May 15th – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Steel
- July 1st – Paris, France – Trabendo
- July 3rd – Berlin, Germany – Gretchen
- July 5th – Roskilde, Denmark – Roskilde Festival
- July 7th – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso
- July 9th – London, England – Koko
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