Yo La Tengo announce new album with energetic new single ‘Fallout’
Yo La Tengo have just announced the arrival of their brand new album, This Stupid World, alongside its first preview single, ‘Fallout’. Following on from 2020’s five-track ambient effort, We Have Amnesia Sometimes, the new record will mark the band’s 17th studio album.
This Stupid World is set for its full release on February 10th, 2023 and will be accompanied by a supporting international tour, including a date at The London Palladium on April 14th, alongside further UK dates. Yo La Tengo will also host their annual eight-night Hanukkah concert series in December at Bowery Ballroom in New York City.
‘Fallout’ sets a mystical and reflective tone for the forthcoming album as Ira Kaplan sings: “I want to fall out of time.” Meanwhile, the fuzzy shoegaze-reminiscent guitars create intense energy. Channelling Sonic Youth and The Cure, YLT bring something new to their eternally diverse platter. With this band, you never know whether it will be a folky dreamscape, an uptempo rock-out, or an ambient voyage; quality is the only constant.
According to the press announcement, the New Jersey indie legends recorded, produced and mixed the album at their own freedom, and within each song, there is a live band performance at the core before overdubs.
The absorbing and broadly improvisational tracks on This Stupid World have been described as “journeys, such as the three-dimensional swirl of ‘Brain Capers’, which blends guitar chords, bass loops, drum punches, and various iterations of [Georgia] Hubley and Kaplan’s voices (with lyrical references to Alice Cooper, Ray Davies, and Rick Moranis) into shifting layers, or the epic twilight wash of ‘Miles Away’ where a dubby rhythm lurks below Hubley’s bright paint-brush vocals. These touches, accents, and surprises make for a rarity: a raw-sounding record that gives plenty of headphone detail to get lost in.”
The album’s title and its corresponding track have a defiant declaration, suggesting a will to fight against the odds: “This stupid world – it’s killing me / This stupid world – is all we have.”
It is hoped that YLT will release more previews ahead of February 10th, but until then, enjoy this first taste.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out New Music Newsletter
All the latest New Music from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.