Chad Ubovich's Meatbodies have announced plans for a new album called Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom. It's arriving March 8 via In the Red, and today, you can hear its lead single, "HOLE."
UPDATE (2/12, 12:08 p.m. ET): Meatbodies have added a ton of new tour dates, which you can find in bold at the bottom of this page. They've also released a new video for "Billow," which you can check out below.
The album is said to find the band exploring themes of "love and loss, escapism, defeatism, hedonism, psychedelics" and more. Having had its first pieces conjured in 2019 and put to bed shortly after, Ubovich got back to work on the album in 2020, only to have it delayed again due to the pandemic. Finally, after ending up in hospital and having to learn how to walk again, and with touring plans with Ty Segall's FUZZ behind him, the bandleader headed to the Secret Garden studio to complete the album at last.
"The last record was more of a cartoon version of who we were — simple and fun without delving into heavy concepts," Ubovich shared. "The whole thing before with Meatbodies was never sit down, next part, next part, but I wanted to make something with more depth."
He continued, "After everything that had happened, and my personal life, I was left with this feeling of emptiness and loss. So I wanted to make music that was absent from things — songs that were more about conveying feeling."
The shoegaze-indebted psych-rock lead track "HOLE" arrives today alongside a video by Matt Yoka. "That was one of the first songs I wrote," Ubovich said of the track, "and I think it's really indicative of that time. How I was thinking and feeling and what I wanted to accomplish with this LP before I even knew it."
Meatbodies will bring their new material on the road following the album's release early next year, with their North American tour scheduled to kick off in Los Angeles on March 23. Canadian dates include Vancouver (April 13) and Toronto (April 23). The trek wraps up at Third Man Records in Nashville on May 3.
Check out "HOLE," the album's tracklist and Meatbodies' tour schedule below.
Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom:
1. The Assignment
2. HOLE
3. Silly Cybin
4. Billow
5. They Came Down
6. Trapped?
7. Move
8. I believe in pink (interlude)
9. Criminal Minds
10. ICNNVR2
11. Psychic Garden
12. (Return of) Ecstasy
13. Gate
Meatbodies 2024 Tour Dates:
03/23 Los Angeles, CA - Lodge Room
04/03 San Francisco, CA - The Chapel
04/04 San Luis Obispo, CA - SLO BREW
04/05 Santa Cruz, CA - Crepe Place
04/06 Reno, NV - Lo Bar
04/11 Seattle, WA - Barboza
04/12 Portland, OR - Lollipop Shoppe
04/13 Vancouver, BC - The Pearl
04/15 Boise, ID - Neurolux
04/16 Salt Lake City, UT - International Artists Lounge
04/17 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
04/19 Minneapolis, MN - 7th St. Entry
04/21 Chicago, IL - Schubas
04/22 Detroit, MI - Lager House
04/23 Toronto, ON - The Garrison
04/24 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
04/25 Troy, NY - No Fun
04/26 Philadelphia, PA - PhilaMoca
04/27 Brooklyn, NY - Market Hotel
04/29 Charlotte, NC - Snug Harbor
04/30 Asheville, NC - Different Wrld
05/01 Atlanta, GA - 529
05/02 Louisville, KY - The Whirling Tiger
05/03 Nashville, TN - Third Man Records at The Blue Room
05/04 New Orleans, LA - Siberia
05/07 Denton, TX - Rubber Gloves
05/09 San Antonio, TX - Paper Tiger
05/10 Austin, TX - The 13th Floor
05/12 Albuquerque, NM - Sister
05/13 Tucson, AZ - Club Congress
05/14 Phoenix, AZ - Rebel Lounge
05/16 San Diego, CA - Soda Bar
05/18 Costa Mesa, CA - The Wayfarer
