Welsh twee-pop unit Los Campesinos! treated us to some festive fare with a 2014 Christmas album, but they haven't released a proper full-length since 2013's No Blues. That's about to change, though, as the band have just revealed plans for a new album titled Sick Scenes.
The record will arrive on February 24 through Wichita Recordings, serving as the band's sixth studio album. It was produced by John Goodmanson and band member Tom Bromley, and recorded in Fridao, Portugal, during the Euro 2016 soccer tournament.
The band shared a statement about the inspiration behind the album. It reads:
The album exists as a release of pent-up aggression, a document of both personal and societal malaise. But it's also a celebration of just getting to be a band again, of getting to play music with our friends. Thematically the record is concerned with fumbling for personal relevance while trying to be a better person. Repressing anxiety and attempting to function while constantly maintaining the perfect two-beer buzz. It is set upon a backdrop of non-league football, prescribed medication, and crumbling hometowns. These truly are the Sickest Scenes.
They've also unveiled the first single from the upcoming release, "I Broke Up in Amarante." Keeping in line with the album's overarching themes, the song hears frontman Gareth Campesinos! "battling with bad mental health" in the aftermath of a breakup, using booze and watching bad football matches as coping mechanisms.
Los Campesinos! will be taking the new material on the road early next year, and you can see the full list of upcoming shows listed below. Beyond the album's tracklisting and the upcoming tour dates, you can hit play to hear "I Broke Up in Amarante."
Sick Scenes:
1. Renato Dall'Ara (2008)
2. Sad Suppers
3. I Broke Up in Amarante
4. A Slow, Slow Death
5. The Fall of Home
6. 5 Flucloxacillin
7. Here's to the Fourth Time!
8. For Whom the Belly Tolls
9. Got Stendhal's
10. A Litany/Heart Swells
11. Hung Empty
Tour dates:
12/03 Cardiff, UK - Clwb Ifor Bach
12/04 Leeds, UK - Brudenell Social Club
12/05 London, UK - Moth Club
02/20 Seattle, WA, The Neptune Theatre *
02/21 Vancouver, BC - The Imperial *
02/22 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge *
02/25 Los Angeles, CA - The Teragram Ballroom *
03/01 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club *
03/02 Chicago, IL - Metro *
03/03 Detroit, MI - El Club *
03/04 Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop *
03/05 Toronto, ON - Velvet Underground *
03/06 Pittsburgh, PA - Rex Theater *
03/08 Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts *
03/09 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club *
03/10 Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw *
03/11 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club *
04/27 Liverpool, UK - Arts Centre
04/28 Glasgow, UK -Stereo
04/29 Sheffield, UK - Queens Social Club
04/30 Newcastle, UK - The Cluny
05/01 London, UK - KOKO
05/05 Brighton, UK - The Haunt
05/06 Norwich, UK - Arts Centre
05/07 Birmingham, UK - Hare & Hounds
* with Crying
The record will arrive on February 24 through Wichita Recordings, serving as the band's sixth studio album. It was produced by John Goodmanson and band member Tom Bromley, and recorded in Fridao, Portugal, during the Euro 2016 soccer tournament.
The band shared a statement about the inspiration behind the album. It reads:
The album exists as a release of pent-up aggression, a document of both personal and societal malaise. But it's also a celebration of just getting to be a band again, of getting to play music with our friends. Thematically the record is concerned with fumbling for personal relevance while trying to be a better person. Repressing anxiety and attempting to function while constantly maintaining the perfect two-beer buzz. It is set upon a backdrop of non-league football, prescribed medication, and crumbling hometowns. These truly are the Sickest Scenes.
They've also unveiled the first single from the upcoming release, "I Broke Up in Amarante." Keeping in line with the album's overarching themes, the song hears frontman Gareth Campesinos! "battling with bad mental health" in the aftermath of a breakup, using booze and watching bad football matches as coping mechanisms.
Los Campesinos! will be taking the new material on the road early next year, and you can see the full list of upcoming shows listed below. Beyond the album's tracklisting and the upcoming tour dates, you can hit play to hear "I Broke Up in Amarante."
Sick Scenes:
1. Renato Dall'Ara (2008)
2. Sad Suppers
3. I Broke Up in Amarante
4. A Slow, Slow Death
5. The Fall of Home
6. 5 Flucloxacillin
7. Here's to the Fourth Time!
8. For Whom the Belly Tolls
9. Got Stendhal's
10. A Litany/Heart Swells
11. Hung Empty
Tour dates:
12/03 Cardiff, UK - Clwb Ifor Bach
12/04 Leeds, UK - Brudenell Social Club
12/05 London, UK - Moth Club
02/20 Seattle, WA, The Neptune Theatre *
02/21 Vancouver, BC - The Imperial *
02/22 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge *
02/25 Los Angeles, CA - The Teragram Ballroom *
03/01 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club *
03/02 Chicago, IL - Metro *
03/03 Detroit, MI - El Club *
03/04 Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop *
03/05 Toronto, ON - Velvet Underground *
03/06 Pittsburgh, PA - Rex Theater *
03/08 Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts *
03/09 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club *
03/10 Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw *
03/11 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club *
04/27 Liverpool, UK - Arts Centre
04/28 Glasgow, UK -Stereo
04/29 Sheffield, UK - Queens Social Club
04/30 Newcastle, UK - The Cluny
05/01 London, UK - KOKO
05/05 Brighton, UK - The Haunt
05/06 Norwich, UK - Arts Centre
05/07 Birmingham, UK - Hare & Hounds
* with Crying