On the last Unknown Mortal Orchestra album, 2015’s Multi-Love, songwriter Ruban Nielson managed to reinvent his sound with clarity and pop sheen, resulting in what many considered the most fully-realized album in the project’s career. Now, as the Portland-based band returns with new music, UMO shows that all bets are off with the fuzzed-out, relentless guitar jam “American Guilt.”
The song is immediate and hooky, using surprisingly heavy guitars in a way you’d expect more of Queens Of The Stone Age than a band who’d recently made a B line for funk, soul, and big pop moments. If anything, this taste of music to come from UMO shows an artist that can’t really sit still and isn’t afraid to tear down whatever he’d previously built. It’s part of the reason why Unknown Mortal Orchestra is so lovable to begin with.
Give Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s “American Guilt” a listen above, and check out the band’s tour dates below.
04/22 — Northampton, MA @ Pearl Street *
04/23 — Portland, ME @ Port City Music Hall *
04/25 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel *
04/26 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel *
04/27 — Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club *
04/28 — Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *
04/30 — Boston, MA @ Royale *
05/01 — Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre *
05/02 — Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall *
05/03 — Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre *
05/04 — Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue *
05/07 — Seattle, WA @ The Moore Theatre *
05/08 — Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom *
05/09 — Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater *
05/10 — Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater *
05/11 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern *
05/12 — Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy and Harriet’s *
05/18 — Hamburg, Germany @ Uebel & Gefährlich *
05/19 — Berlin, Germany @ Kesselhaus *
05/20 — Heidelberg, Germany @ Karlstorbahnhof *
05/21 — Düsseldorf, Germany @ zakk *
05/22 — Paris, France @ La Gaîté Lyrique *
05/24 — London, United Kingdom @ Roundhouse *
05/25 — Bristol, United Kingdom @ SWX *
05/26 — Manchester, United Kingdom @ Strange Waves
05/27 — Leeds, United Kingdom @ World Island
05/28 — Brussels, Belgium @ Ancienne Belgique *
06/10 — Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands @ Best Kept Secret Festival
07/06 — Richmond, VA @ The National #
07/07 — Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel #
07/08 — Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse #
07/09 — Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre #
07/11 — New Orleans, LA @ Republic #
07/12 — Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall #
07/13 — Austin, TX @ Stubbs BBQ #
07/14 — Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater #
07/16 — Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre #
07/17 — Ogden, UT @ Ogden Amphitheatre ^
07/18 — Las Vegas, NV @ Vinyl at Hard Rock
07/19 — Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
08/10 — Copenhagen, DK @ HAVEN Festival
* = w/ Makeness
# = w/ Shamir
^ = w/ Sylvan Esso and Shamir
