In The Morse Code Of Brake Lights, the highly anticipated new album from critically acclaimed group The New Pornographers, is out now via the band’s own Collected Work Records imprint in partnership with Concord Records.
In celebration of the album, the band is adding a number of dates to their U.S. tour, kicking off their west coast run January 30 at Seattle’s Neptune Theater. The band is also adding a second date in Washington, D.C. following their sold-out show at the 9:30 Club. See below for a complete itinerary, tickets are available for purchase at thenewpornographers.com.
Most recently the band premiered the tracks “One Kind of Solomon” (Listen HERE), “The Surprise Knock” (listen HERE) and “Falling Down The Stairs Of Your Smile” (listen HERE and watch the Mitchell deQuilettes-directed video HERE). Upon the album’s announcement, Stereogum raved that the “power-pop all-star team are back in action” while hailing the “long-running power-pop army of melodically gifted mostly-Canadians.” SPIN praised “One Kind of Solomon” as “a chaotic arena-rock number, with heavy drums immediately reminiscent of bands like U2 and Arcade Fire. Soon enough, shimmering guitars and keyboards peak through a wall-of-sound mix mostly composed of multi-tracked drums and vocals.”
Album art and track list follow below, and the record is available for purchase HERE.
“I was about two-thirds of the way through the record when I began to notice that lyrically so much of it was pointing toward car songs,” notes Newman. “The opening track is ‘You’ll Need a Backseat Driver,’ and that was a metaphor that seemed to be running through other songs, too. Next to the love song, I feel like the car song is one of the most iconic kinds of songs in pop music, from Chuck Berry to the present. There was so much of that throughout it that I started thinking: ‘Oh, no, there’s too many references to cars on this record!’ And then I thought, ‘No, that’s good—people might think it’s a concept album.’”
The New Pornographers have released seven studio albums to date including their most recent, Whiteout Conditions. The first album released on their own imprint, Collected Works Records, in partnership with Concord Records, the album received widespread acclaim and was hailed as “rich with new wave synths and closely blended harmonies” by Pitchfork, while Rolling Stone praised its “uplifting three to four minute indie-pop numbers, imbued with lush vocals.”
THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS,
IN THE MORSE CODE OF BRAKE LIGHTS
You’ll Need A Backseat Driver
2. The Surprise Knock
3. Falling Down The Stairs Of Your Smile
4. Colossus Of Rhodes
5. Higher Beams
6. Dreamlike And On The Rush
7. You Won’t Need Those Where You’re Going
8. Need Some Giants
9. Opening Ceremony
10. One Kind Of Solomon
11. Leather On The Seat
THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS LIVE
September 27 Madison, WI Majestic Theatre
September 28 Urbana, IL Pygmalion Music Festival
September 29 Columbia, MO Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival
October 1 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
October 2 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre
October 3 Detroit, MI Majestic Theatre
October 5 San Francisco, CA Hardly Strictly Bluegrass
November 4 Boston, MA Royale
November 5 Washington, DC 9:30 Club (SOLD OUT)
November 6 Washington, DC Lincoln Theatre
November 7 Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Steel
November 8 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
November 10 Saxaphaw, NC Haw River Ballroom
November 11 Asheville, NC The Orange Peel
November 12 Atlanta, GA Buckhead Theatre
November 14 North Adams, MA Mass MoCA
January 30 Seattle, WA Neptune Theatre
January 31 Portland, OR Roseland Theater
February 3 Los Angeles, CA The Fonda Theatre
February 4 San Diego, CA The Observatory North Park
February 5 Phoenix, AZ The Crescent Ballroom
February 6 Santa Fe, NM Meow Wolf
February 8 Dallas, TX Canton Hall
February 9 Houston, TX White Oak Music Hall
February 10 Austin, TX Emo’s
February 11 Oklahoma City, OK Tower Theatre
February 12 Kansas City, MO The Truman
February 13 Omaha, NE Slowdown
February 15 Englewood, CO Gothic Theatre
February 16 Salt Lake City, UT The Depot