Death From Above 1979 have announced ‘Private Lives’ – their first studio album in six years. Check out new tour dates and the “ripping” new title track.
The new record marks the first from the Canadian rock duo since they released ‘Is 4 Lovers’ back in 2021, and is set to arrive on January 29 via their original label Last Gang/MNRK.
Musically, the LP is expected to find the band more invigorated than ever, and was written following several retrospective performances from Sebastien Grainger and Jesse F. Keeler in recent years. Those shows included a tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of their debut ‘You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine’ as well as some gigs commemorating the 10th anniversary of their sophomore album, ‘The Physical World’.
“Playing the old songs every day really inspires you to want to make something new,” Keeler said, while Grainger added, “After the anniversary shows, we were at once kinda sick of celebrating ourselves but also re-grounded in the true foundational sound of the band.”
The songs on the record are predominantly comprised of unused but privately cherished demos that have been unearthed and given a new lease of life.
Discussing the making of the album, Grainger shared: “When we first started making music, it was as easy as going down to the basement. It was a physical process. An extension of just hanging out and living together. As the years went by, the process became more deliberate.
“The trick is to remember what makes it fun and special. Our band has always been a balance of sweet and sour. Heavy music that’s also tender and playful. We’re really cooking when we lean into those contradictions.”
Today (Tuesday September 29), the first taster of the album is out now in the form of the eye-catching title track, which sees the band lean into themes of seeking out “privacy in an era of overexposure”.
“We are compelled, often by one another, to share our most intimate moments and quietest thoughts. To what end? More often than not, to be part of a cheap consumer feedback loop,” the duo explained of the single.
“Ultimately though, it’s just a ripping rock song with maniacal riffs,” they added. “Our new 10-song LP, Private Lives, represents a renewed commitment to the pure industrial magic of electricity. We’ve never been able to do anything halfway. Much like Kim Bodnia’s dance performance in the video for the lead single, it’s all or nothing for us.”
Check out the single below – which comes with a music video starring actor Kim Bodnia, directed by Eva Michon – as well as the full tracklisting, which features a collaboration with CSS.
The ‘Private Lives’ tracklist is:
1. ‘Private Lives’
2. ‘Escape From Steeltown’
3. ‘Mystery’ (featuring CSS)
4. ‘Hi Lo’
5. ‘Put Up/Shut Up’
6. ‘Dreams’
7. ‘Drunk In Tokyo’
8. ‘Like My Ex Did’
9. ‘TV Don’t Talk Back’
10. ‘Late Stage Liberal’
To celebrate the announcement of the new album, Death From Above 1979 have announced a new tour, which will see the duo head across North America over the spring.
Dates kick off on February 2 in Arizona, and features stops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Brooklyn, Boston, Seattle and more over the following month. Visit here for tickets, and find a list of dates below.
Death From Above 1979’s 2027 tour dates are:
FEBRUARY
02 – Tempe, AZ @ The Marquee
04 – San Diego, CA @ Observatory San Diego
05 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Belasco
06 – Santa Ana, CA @ Observatory Orange County
09 – Ventura, CA @ Ventura Music Hall
10 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
11 – San Francisco, CA @ August Hall
24 – Waterloo, ON @ Maxwell’s
25 – Toronto, ON @ HISTORY
26 – London, ON @ London Music Hall
27 – Ottawa, ON @ The Bronson
MARCH
01 – Montreal, QC @ Theatre Beanfield
02 – Quebec City, QC @ Imperial Bell
03 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
05 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
06 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry
07 – Washington, DC @ Howard Theatre
08 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Thunderbird Music Hall
15 – Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre
17 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
18 – St Louis, MO @ Old Rock House
19 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line
20 – Winnipeg, MB @ Park Theatre
22 – Red Deer, AB @ Bo’s Bar & Stage
23 – Edmonton, AB @ Midway
24 – Calgary, AB @ Palace Theatre
26 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
27 – Victoria, BC @ Capital Ballroom
29 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
31 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
Death From Above 1979’s last album, 2021’s ‘Is 4 Lovers’, was given a four-star review, with NME describing it as “their best album since their debut”. It added: “The Canadian dance-punk duo tackle love and modern society of their gnarly fourth record. They still pack a punch, but now the bruise is more colourful”
Speaking to NME around the release, Grainger said he saw ‘Is 4 Lovers’ as marking a thematic return to the concerns of ‘You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine’.
“This is a record where instead of looking outward as much as I had been on the last two records, I was looking inwards,” he said. “We’ve linked this record to the first material only because for me, at that time, I was only aware of the little circle around me.
“The first EP [2002’s ‘Heads Up’] and the first record are about my family and my friends and nights out in Toronto. My approach to writing then was to write something that means something to me, and if it means something to me hopefully it’ll mean something to other people. I’ve gone back to that.”
