Former Arcade Fire member Will Butler — not to be confused with Win Butler — and Sister Squares (Miles Francis, Julie Shore, Jenny Shore and Sara Dobbs) have announced a self-titled album, out September 22 via Merge.
Sister Squares have toured on and off with Butler for nearly 10 years as a backing band and shared their first release as a collaborative effort, "Willows," back in April after realizing how well they all gelled together creatively.
"After Generations, I considered making a weird solo record. Me alone in the basement, etc., etc. Mostly I realized that what I wanted was the opposite," said Butler in a statement.
"Will and I organically discovered our relationship as a production duo through making this album," said Francis. "We didn't have to talk too much about things as they happened, because the music just flowed. As a producer, working with Jenny, Julie, and Sara is the dream. They connect so innately. In one motion they can conjure a mood, or get at the root of a feeling."
In addition to the album announcement, the group have shared new song "Long Grass." Listen to it below.
Butler said about the track: "I had read this novella called Jamila by a Soviet/Kyrgyz author named Chingiz Aitmatov from the '50s… It's about love, and becoming an artist, and melancholy, and vast landscapes with a single train track running through them. And it reminded me of young adulthood, of wandering moodily down the train tracks. Maybe the song is also about leaving behind the things that formed us, but trying to remember the world as it used to be?"
Will Butler + Sister Squares have also plotted a tour in support of the upcoming album. The trek kicks off at Guelph, ON's Hillside Music Festival on July 29, and includes three more Canadian stops in Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto. Check out the full schedule below, along with the album tracklist.
Will Butler + Sister Squares:
1. Open
2. Stop Talking
3. Willows
4. Long Grass
5. Me & My Friends
6. Saturday Night
7. Car Crash
8. Sunlight
9. Arrow of Time
10. I Am Standing in a Room
11. Good Friday, 1613
12. Old Year
13. Hee Loop
14. The Window
Pre-order Will Butler + Sister Squares
Will Butler + Sister Squares 2023 Tour Dates:
07/29 Guelph, ON - Hillside Festival
07/30 Guelph, ON - Hillside Festival
09/23 Brooklyn, NY - Zone One
10/03 Los Angeles, CA - Zebulon
10/04 San Francisco, CA - The Independent
10/06 Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios
10/07 Seattle, WA - Barboza
10/08 Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret
10/17 Boston, MA - Deep Cuts
10/18 Montreal, QC - Bar le Ritz
10/19 Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace
10/20 Detroit, MI - Loving Touch
10/21 Chicago, IL - Sleeping Village
10/22 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
11/07 Riga, LV - Palladium
11/10 Berlin, DE - Privatclub
11/12 Aarhus, DK - VoxHall
11/14 Rotterdam, NL - Rotown
11/15 Paris, FR - Café de la Danse
11/16 Brussels, BE - Botanique
11/17 London, UK - ICA
11/18 Dublin, IE - Whelan's
11/30 Philadelphia, PA - PhilaMOCA
12/01 Washington, DC - DC9
12/02 Durham, NC - Motorco Music Hall
Sister Squares have toured on and off with Butler for nearly 10 years as a backing band and shared their first release as a collaborative effort, "Willows," back in April after realizing how well they all gelled together creatively.
"After Generations, I considered making a weird solo record. Me alone in the basement, etc., etc. Mostly I realized that what I wanted was the opposite," said Butler in a statement.
"Will and I organically discovered our relationship as a production duo through making this album," said Francis. "We didn't have to talk too much about things as they happened, because the music just flowed. As a producer, working with Jenny, Julie, and Sara is the dream. They connect so innately. In one motion they can conjure a mood, or get at the root of a feeling."
In addition to the album announcement, the group have shared new song "Long Grass." Listen to it below.
Butler said about the track: "I had read this novella called Jamila by a Soviet/Kyrgyz author named Chingiz Aitmatov from the '50s… It's about love, and becoming an artist, and melancholy, and vast landscapes with a single train track running through them. And it reminded me of young adulthood, of wandering moodily down the train tracks. Maybe the song is also about leaving behind the things that formed us, but trying to remember the world as it used to be?"
Will Butler + Sister Squares have also plotted a tour in support of the upcoming album. The trek kicks off at Guelph, ON's Hillside Music Festival on July 29, and includes three more Canadian stops in Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto. Check out the full schedule below, along with the album tracklist.
Will Butler + Sister Squares:
1. Open
2. Stop Talking
3. Willows
4. Long Grass
5. Me & My Friends
6. Saturday Night
7. Car Crash
8. Sunlight
9. Arrow of Time
10. I Am Standing in a Room
11. Good Friday, 1613
12. Old Year
13. Hee Loop
14. The Window
Pre-order Will Butler + Sister Squares
Will Butler + Sister Squares 2023 Tour Dates:
07/29 Guelph, ON - Hillside Festival
07/30 Guelph, ON - Hillside Festival
09/23 Brooklyn, NY - Zone One
10/03 Los Angeles, CA - Zebulon
10/04 San Francisco, CA - The Independent
10/06 Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios
10/07 Seattle, WA - Barboza
10/08 Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret
10/17 Boston, MA - Deep Cuts
10/18 Montreal, QC - Bar le Ritz
10/19 Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace
10/20 Detroit, MI - Loving Touch
10/21 Chicago, IL - Sleeping Village
10/22 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
11/07 Riga, LV - Palladium
11/10 Berlin, DE - Privatclub
11/12 Aarhus, DK - VoxHall
11/14 Rotterdam, NL - Rotown
11/15 Paris, FR - Café de la Danse
11/16 Brussels, BE - Botanique
11/17 London, UK - ICA
11/18 Dublin, IE - Whelan's
11/30 Philadelphia, PA - PhilaMOCA
12/01 Washington, DC - DC9
12/02 Durham, NC - Motorco Music Hall
