Garbage have shared a new single called ‘There’s No Future In Optimism’. Check it out below.
Shared today (April 9), the song marks the first single to be shared from the band’s upcoming eighth studio album ‘Let All That We Imagine Be The Light’.
News of the LP was first shared back in February, when it was confirmed that the band had finished work on the 10-track follow-up to 2021’s ‘No Gods No Masters’. The record is due for release on May 30 (pre-order/pre-save here).
Now, Shirley Manson and co. have dropped the lead single – a call to action to tackle “fatalism and negativity”.
“I love the title. The band sent it to me and I was like, ‘This is great. I’m keeping that.’ But the lyrics are an action against that title,” the singer explained. “Because if we allow our fatalism or our negativity to really take over, we will crumble.”
“It’s about a city, in my case, Los Angeles, but it could be anywhere where bad stuff is happening,” she added, going on to share the one event that shaped the meaning of the track. “After the George Floyd murder, which is one of few things in my life that I wish I’d never seen: I was changed entirely by seeing the footage of that cop kneeling on George Floyd’s neck. In Los Angeles there were huge protests and a lot of upheaval after that.
“Above our house in Hollywood, there were helicopters all day long, for days on end. It was really precarious, chaotic and terrifying.”
You can tune in to the song below, and watch the cinematic video that was shot and directed by Benjy Kirkman.
‘Let All That We Imagine…’ was recorded at Red Razor Sounds in Los Angeles, California, although sessions also took place at drummer and producer Butch Vig’s Grunge Is Dead studio and Manson’s bedroom.
Produced by Garbage and their longtime engineer Billy Bush, the 10 songs contain contributions from all four original band members: Manson, Vig, Duke Erikson and Steve Marker.
“This record is about what it means to be alive, and about what it means to face your imminent destruction,” said Manson in a new statement. “It’s hopeful. It’s very tender towards what it means to be a human being. Our flaws and our failures are still beautiful, even though we’re taught that they’re not. This is a tender, thrilling record about the fragility of life.”
As well as sharing new material, Garbage are also gearing up for a number of US tour dates. Set to take place later this year in support of the new album, 31 new shows have been lined up, including stops in New York, Washington, San Francisco and more.
It will mark Garbage’s first in North America since dates with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds in 2023. Their last big headline tour there was close to a decade ago. Visit here for tickets, and check out a list of shows below.
Garbage’s 2025 North American tour dates are:
SEPTEMBER
3 – Orlando, FL – Hard Rock Cafe
5 – Pompano Beach, FL – Pompano Beach Amphitheatre
6 – St. Petersburg, FL – Jannus Live
8 – Atlanta, GA – The Eastern
10 – Nashville, TN – The Pinnacle
12 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Theatre
13 – Detroit, MI – Masonic Cathedral Theatre
16 – Philadelphia, PA – Franklin Music Hall
17 – Washington, D.C. – The Anthem
18 – Boston, MA – Roadrunner
20 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount
23 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE
24 – Toronto, Ontario – History
29 – Chicago, IL – The Salt Shed
30 – Newport, KY – MegaCorp Pavilion
OCTOBER
1 – Columbus, OH – Kemba Live!
3 – Madison, WI – The Sylvee
4 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
6 – Kansas City, MO – Midland Theatre
7 – Dallas, TX – The Bomb Factory
12 – Denver, CO – Mission Ballroom
15 – Seattle, WA – Paramount Theatre
18 – Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory Spokane
20 – Vancouver, British Columbia – Orpheum
21 – Portland, OR – McMenamins Crystal Ballroom
23 – Saratoga, CA – The Mountain Winery
24 – San Francisco, CA – The Warfield
26 – Reno, NV – Silver Legacy Resort Casino
29 – Salt Lake City, UT – Rockwell at The Complex
31 – Las Vegas, NV – The Chelsea Theater at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
NOVEMBER
2 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
Last spring, Manson told NME that Garbage were “looking for shards of life and humanity” while working on their eighth full-length effort. She said at the time that she was “really delighted” by the response to ‘No Gods No Masters’ – which reached Number Five in the UK.
“Going into this next record, I feel a shift,” Manson added. “I’m trying to dampen my outrage. As a society, we’ve become so beaten down and broken-hearted. I’m trying to reach for something that’s a little bigger than me, because if I don’t then I’m going to drown in my own dismay.”
