Whitney have lifted the curtain on their third studio album. The duo of Julien Ehrlich and Max Kakacek will share SPARK on September 16 via Secretly Canadian.
Following 2019 sophomore outing Forever Turned Around and 2020 covers collection Candid, SPARK is said to find Whitney leaning into pop while retaining the "warmth and ease" of their more folk-indebted early work.
Recorded with producers Brad Cook and John Congleton, the 12-song album was written by the duo in Portland, OR, over a 14 month period. "We had time to just sit and watch the body of work grow in real time," Ehrlich says, reflecting on an earlier pandemic stage where touring was off the table. "We were just stacking stronger and stronger songs on top of each other." Kakacek adds that such process is "Our favourite way to make records, the way we made [debut Light Upon the Lake]."
"REAL LOVE" is the first song to arrive from the record, and you can hear it below alongside a video from director Aaron Brown. In a statement, Ehrlich recalled how the single was written with Kakacek after making the cross-country move back to their native Chicago.
"I was experiencing heightened levels of anxiety and panic, while the entire city was re-emerging from isolation," he reflected. "I've been running away from and self medicating my anxiety for as long as I can remember, but for whatever reason, it felt like it was time to dive straight into it. During late night sessions over a two week period, we captured the embrace of anxiety and fear in a way that resonated with us immediately. We spent the next few summer nights driving on Ashland with the windows down and the song turned up. It felt like an emotional and musical burst of light and weʼre so grateful to finally be sharing that with people."
Whitney have also mapped out a fall North American tour, with a lone Canadian date in Toronto on December 15 at the Phoenix Concert Theatre. Find their complete itinerary below. Tickets for all dates go on sale tomorrow (June 17) at 9 a.m. local time, with further details available via the band's official website.
SPARK:
1. NOTHING REMAINS
2. BACK THEN
3. BLUE
4. TWIRL
5. REAL LOVE
6. MEMORY
7. SELF
8. NEVER CROSSED MY MIND
9. TERMINAL
10. HEART WILL BEAT
11. LOST CONTROL
12. COUNTY LINES
Whitney 2022 Tour Dates:
09/29 Davenport, IA - Raccoon Motel
09/30 Minneapolis, MN - First Ave
10/01 Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater
10/03 Fort Collins, CO - The Aggie
10/04 Denver, CO - Gothic Theatre
10/05 Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater
10/07 Oklahoma City, OK - Jones Assembly
10/08 Columbia, MO - Blue Note
10/09 St Louis, MO - Delmar Hall
10/11 Oxford, MS - The Lyric
10/12 Birmingham, AL - Saturn
10/14 Miami, FL - Miami Beach Bandshell
10/15 Tampa, FL - The Orpheum
10/17 Orlando, FL - House of Blues
10/19 Jacksonville, FL - Intuition Ale Works
10/20 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
10/22 Athens, GA - Georgia Theatre
10/23 Asheville, NC - The Orange Peel
10/24 Charleston, SC - Music Farm
10/25 Carrboro, NC - Catʼs Cradle
10/26 Charlottesville, VA - Jefferson Theater
10/28 Nashville, TN - Eastside Bowl
10/30 Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue
11/06 Paris, FR - Trabendo
11/08 Antwerp, BE - De Roma
11/09 Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso
11/10 Cologne, DE - Bürgerhaus Stollwerck
11/11 Munich, DE - Freiheizhalle
11/12 Zurich, CN - Mascotte
11/13 Berlin, DE - Columbia Theater
11/15 Hamburg, DE - Mojo Club
11/16 Copenhagen, DK - VEGA
11/17 Oslo, NO - Rockefeller
11/18 Stockholm, SE - Nalen
11/19 Gothenburg, SE - Pustervik
11/20 Aarhus, DK - Voxhall
11/22 Bristol, UK -SWX
11/23 London, UK - O2 Academy Brixton
11/24 Manchester, UK - Albert Hall
11/25 Glasgow, UK - QMU
11/27 Dublin, IE - The Academy
12/08 Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
12/09 Silver Spring, MD - The Fillmore Silver Spring
12/10 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
12/11 New York, NY - Webster Hall
12/14 Pittsburgh, PA - Spirit
12/15 Toronto, ON - Phoenix Concert Theatre
12/16 Detroit, MI - The Crofoot
12/21 Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall
12/22 Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall
12/23 Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall
Following 2019 sophomore outing Forever Turned Around and 2020 covers collection Candid, SPARK is said to find Whitney leaning into pop while retaining the "warmth and ease" of their more folk-indebted early work.
Recorded with producers Brad Cook and John Congleton, the 12-song album was written by the duo in Portland, OR, over a 14 month period. "We had time to just sit and watch the body of work grow in real time," Ehrlich says, reflecting on an earlier pandemic stage where touring was off the table. "We were just stacking stronger and stronger songs on top of each other." Kakacek adds that such process is "Our favourite way to make records, the way we made [debut Light Upon the Lake]."
"REAL LOVE" is the first song to arrive from the record, and you can hear it below alongside a video from director Aaron Brown. In a statement, Ehrlich recalled how the single was written with Kakacek after making the cross-country move back to their native Chicago.
"I was experiencing heightened levels of anxiety and panic, while the entire city was re-emerging from isolation," he reflected. "I've been running away from and self medicating my anxiety for as long as I can remember, but for whatever reason, it felt like it was time to dive straight into it. During late night sessions over a two week period, we captured the embrace of anxiety and fear in a way that resonated with us immediately. We spent the next few summer nights driving on Ashland with the windows down and the song turned up. It felt like an emotional and musical burst of light and weʼre so grateful to finally be sharing that with people."
Whitney have also mapped out a fall North American tour, with a lone Canadian date in Toronto on December 15 at the Phoenix Concert Theatre. Find their complete itinerary below. Tickets for all dates go on sale tomorrow (June 17) at 9 a.m. local time, with further details available via the band's official website.
SPARK:
1. NOTHING REMAINS
2. BACK THEN
3. BLUE
4. TWIRL
5. REAL LOVE
6. MEMORY
7. SELF
8. NEVER CROSSED MY MIND
9. TERMINAL
10. HEART WILL BEAT
11. LOST CONTROL
12. COUNTY LINES
Whitney 2022 Tour Dates:
09/29 Davenport, IA - Raccoon Motel
09/30 Minneapolis, MN - First Ave
10/01 Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater
10/03 Fort Collins, CO - The Aggie
10/04 Denver, CO - Gothic Theatre
10/05 Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater
10/07 Oklahoma City, OK - Jones Assembly
10/08 Columbia, MO - Blue Note
10/09 St Louis, MO - Delmar Hall
10/11 Oxford, MS - The Lyric
10/12 Birmingham, AL - Saturn
10/14 Miami, FL - Miami Beach Bandshell
10/15 Tampa, FL - The Orpheum
10/17 Orlando, FL - House of Blues
10/19 Jacksonville, FL - Intuition Ale Works
10/20 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
10/22 Athens, GA - Georgia Theatre
10/23 Asheville, NC - The Orange Peel
10/24 Charleston, SC - Music Farm
10/25 Carrboro, NC - Catʼs Cradle
10/26 Charlottesville, VA - Jefferson Theater
10/28 Nashville, TN - Eastside Bowl
10/30 Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue
11/06 Paris, FR - Trabendo
11/08 Antwerp, BE - De Roma
11/09 Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso
11/10 Cologne, DE - Bürgerhaus Stollwerck
11/11 Munich, DE - Freiheizhalle
11/12 Zurich, CN - Mascotte
11/13 Berlin, DE - Columbia Theater
11/15 Hamburg, DE - Mojo Club
11/16 Copenhagen, DK - VEGA
11/17 Oslo, NO - Rockefeller
11/18 Stockholm, SE - Nalen
11/19 Gothenburg, SE - Pustervik
11/20 Aarhus, DK - Voxhall
11/22 Bristol, UK -SWX
11/23 London, UK - O2 Academy Brixton
11/24 Manchester, UK - Albert Hall
11/25 Glasgow, UK - QMU
11/27 Dublin, IE - The Academy
12/08 Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
12/09 Silver Spring, MD - The Fillmore Silver Spring
12/10 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
12/11 New York, NY - Webster Hall
12/14 Pittsburgh, PA - Spirit
12/15 Toronto, ON - Phoenix Concert Theatre
12/16 Detroit, MI - The Crofoot
12/21 Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall
12/22 Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall
12/23 Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall
