Dudes rock, and no dudes rock harder than Japandroids.
The duo of guitarist and vocalist Brian King and drummer David Prowse have announced a new album, Fate & Alcohol, their first since 2017’s Near To The Wild Heart Of Life. It’s due out October 18 on ANTI.
Japandoids also released the album’s first single, “Chicago” (not a Sufjan cover). The track, which absolutely needs to appear on the soundtrack for season 4 of The Bear, “was recorded in our jam space on February 4th, 2020,” King said.
King elaborates:
“On our last record we wanted to broaden the definition of a Japandroids song and purposely left our demos quite open and malleable so that we had more flexibility to experiment in the studio. At the time, this approach was new and exciting, and inspired us to be bolder, to take more chances. We were aiming for a more cinematic take on our signature sound. This time, we tried to split the difference, and made certain that every song ripped in our jam space before Jesse ever heard it. If you listen to our first demo of “Chicago,” it’s obviously much rougher than what you hear on record, but it’s all there. Even on a blown-out iPhone recording, the energy was obvious and the feeling cut through loud and clear.”
Prowse also discussed the legacy of Japandroids. “I don’t think we’re the most technically proficient band in the world. And we’re not the most original-sounding or challenging band in the world,” he wrote in a statement. “But we’ve always put a lot of passion into what we do, and I think that’s resonated with a lot of people. And I’m really grateful that we could be that band for people, in the same way that so many bands were for us.”
You can listen to “Chicago” above.
Japandroids’ Fate & Alcohol Tracklist
1. “Eye Contact High”
2. “D&T”
3. “Alice”
4. “Chicago”
5. “Upon Sober Reflection”
6. “Fugitive Summer”
7. “A Gaslight Anthem”
8. “Positively 34th Street”
9. “One Without the Other”
10. “All Bets Are Off”
Fate & Alcohol is out 10/18 via ANTI. Find more information here.
