Yo La Tengo Announce New Album 'There's a Riot Going On', Unveil Four New Tracks
Thursday, 18 January 2018
Written by Helen Payne
Yo La Tengo have announced a new album.
Their first full length since 2013, 'There's a Riot Going On', is set for release on March 16 via Matador.
Alongside the announcement, the indie band have revealed the first four tracks from the record, which come accompanied by a short essay from author and critic Luc Sante.
There's a riot going on. You don't need me, or Yo La Tengo, to tell you that. These are dark times, in our heads as much as in the streets. It's easy to lose contact with the ground, flying through endless banks of storm clouds day after day. Confusion and anxiety intrude into daily life and cause you to lose your compass. There are times that call for anthems, something to lift you out of your slump and put fire in your feet. And then there are times when what is indicated is a balm, a sound that will wrap around you and work out the knots in your neck.
While there's a riot going on, Yo La Tengo will remind you what it's like to dream. The sound burbles and washes and flows and billows. If records were dedicated to the cardinal elements, this one would be water. There are shimmery hazes, spectral rumbles, a flash of backward masking, ghostly flamingos calling "shoo-bop shoo-bop." You are there. And even if your mind is not unclouded--shaken, misdirected, out of words and out of time--you can still float, ride the waves of an ocean deeper than your worries, above the sound and above the Sound.
For Yo La Tengo this is a slow-motion action painting, and Georgia Hubley, Ira Kaplan and James McNew did it all themselves, in their rehearsal studio, with no outside engineer (John McEntire later did the mix). They did not rehearse or jam together beforehand; they turned on the recorder and let things coalesce. Songs came together over long stretches, sometimes as much as a year going by between parts. You'd never guess this, since the layers are finessed with such a liquid brush. You'd imagine most of the songs had sprung forth whole, since they will enter your head that way. Within two listens you will be powerless to resist the magnetic draw of Shades of Blue, will involuntarily hear She May, She Might on your internal jukebox first thing in the morning and Let's Do It Wrong late at night. While there's a riot going on you will feel capable of bobbing through like a cork.
In 1971, when the nation appeared to be on the brink of violently coming apart, Sly and the Family Stone released 'There's a Riot Goin’ On', an album of dark, brooding energy. Now, under similar circumstances, Yo La Tengo have issued a record with the same name but with a different force, an album that proposes an alternative to anger and despair. Their first proper full-length since 2013’s Fade, 'There's a Riot Going On' is an expression of freedom and sanity and emotional expansion, a declaration of common humanity as liberating as it is soft-spoken.
Out Of The Pool, Shades of Blue, She May, She Might and You Are Here are all available to listen to below.
'There's a Riot Going On' tracklist:
1. You Are Here
2. Shades of Blue
3. She May, She Might
4. For You Too
5. Ashes
6. Polynesia #1
7. Dream Dream Away
8. Shortwave
9. Above the Sound
10. Let’s Do It Wrong
11. What Chance Have I Got
12. Esportes Casual
13. Forever
14. Out of the Pool
15. Here You Are
Yo La Tengo will head out on tour this in support of the new album, marking their first UK and European appearances since the release of their 2015 LP 'Stuff Like That There'.
Yo La Tengo Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows
Sat April 28 2018 - DUBLIN Olympia Theatre
Sun April 29 2018 - GLASGOW SWG3 TV Studio
Mon April 30 2018 - MANCHESTER Manchester Academy 2
Tue May 01 2018 - BIRMINGHAM Town Hall
Thu May 03 2018 - LEEDS Church
Fri May 04 2018 - LONDON Royal Festival Hall
Wed March 28 2018 - MINNEAPOLIS Minnesota - First Avenue (USA)
Thu March 29 2018 - CHICAGO Illinois - Thalia Hall (USA)
Fri March 30 2018 - CHICAGO Illinois - Thalia Hall (USA)
Sat March 31 2018 - TORONTO Ontario - Phoenix Concert Theatre (Canada)
Mon April 02 2018 - SOUTH BURLINGTON Vermont - Higher Ground (USA)
Tue April 03 2018 - BOSTON Massachusetts - Paradise Rock Club (USA)
Wed April 04 2018 - WASHINGTON District Of Columbia - 9:30 Club (USA)
Fri April 06 2018 - BROOKLYN New York - Brooklyn Steel (USA)
Sat April 07 2018 - PHILADELPHIA Pennsylvania - Union Transfer (USA)
Sun April 08 2018 - CHARLOTTESVILLE Virginia - Jefferson Theater - VA (USA)
Tue April 10 2018 - CARRBORO North Carolina - Cat's Cradle (USA)
Wed April 11 2018 - CARRBORO North Carolina - Cat's Cradle (USA)
Thu April 12 2018 - ATLANTA Georgia - Terminal West At King Plow Arts Center (USA)
Fri April 13 2018 - NASHVILLE Tennessee - Basement - Nashville (USA)
Sat April 14 2018 - NASHVILLE Tennessee - Basement - Nashville (USA)
Thu May 31 2018 - SEATTLE Washington - Neptune Theatre (USA)
Fri June 01 2018 - SEATTLE Washington - Neptune Theatre (USA)
Sat June 02 2018 - PORTLAND Oregon - Wonder Ballroom (USA)
Sun June 03 2018 - PORTLAND Oregon - Wonder Ballroom (USA)
Tue June 05 2018 - SAN FRANCISCO California - Fillmore - San Francisco (USA)
Wed June 06 2018 - SAN FRANCISCO California - Fillmore - San Francisco (USA)
Fri June 08 2018 - LOS ANGELES California - Teragram Ballroom (USA)
Sat June 09 2018 - LOS ANGELES California - Teragram Ballroom (USA)
Sun May 06 2018 - AMSTERDAM Paradiso (Netherlands)
Mon May 07 2018 - BERLIN Heimathafen (Germany)
Tue May 08 2018 - COLOGNE Gloria Theatre (Germany)
Wed May 09 2018 - MUNICH Munchner Kammerspiele (Germany)
Fri May 11 2018 - ZAGREB Pogon Jedinstvo (Croatia)
Sat May 12 2018 - BELGRADE Dom Omladine (Serbia)
Sun May 13 2018 - BUDAPEST A38 Ship (Hungary)
Tue May 15 2018 - MILAN Fabrique (Italy)
Wed May 16 2018 - FRIBOURG Fri-Son (Switzerland)
Thu May 17 2018 - SCHORNDORF Manufaktur (Germany)
Sat May 19 2018 - PARIS Cabaret Sauvage (France)
Sun May 20 2018 - BRUSSELS Ancienne Belgique (Belgium)
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