Algiers Tackle Western Imperialism’s Legacy on “Dispossession,” Announce There Is No Year

The Atlanta-based bluesy post-rockers Algiers have made a name for themselves with their kinetic, confrontational songs since their formation in 2012. Back in 2015, they garnered a Best of What’s Next feature from Paste that described them as a group who harness anger towards transformative ends: “Algiers’ aim isn’t to enrage, but, rather, to rouse,” Jeff Milo wrote. For the group, confronting the painful realities of systemic oppression is not a one-way road to unproductive outrage—it’s a precursor to our collective redemption. Their forthcoming third record, There Is No Year (out Jan. 17, 2020), promises to continue Algiers’ practice of identifying and examining the darkest sides of human nature, without sugarcoating them, and without falling into senseless rage or passive despair.

Lead single “Dispossession” is a soulful track that testifies to the horrors of imperialism (“ashes” and “fascists” are rhymed in a key verse) and the hope for a freer future. Backing vocals from the Cleveland music and activist collective Mourning [A] BLKstar attest that the agents of oppression can’t expect to remain unchallenged forever: “You can’t run away,” they repeat, inviting a reckoning with systemic imbalances of power. With shots of spaces around Paris that glorify France’s history of empire, director Sohail Daulatzai explains that the monochrome video references not only the “colonial massacres of Algerians” but also the larger legacy of Western colonialism:

Amidst the urgency of now, “Dispossession” sounds the warning about the permanent war against oblivion … The video opens with the sites of colonial massacres of Algerians, moves to the repressive spaces of the banlieues, and includes shots of the Jardin d’Agronomie Tropicale—a park that celebrates the glories of empire. But this is not just about the past or Paris, it is everywhere that the banner of the West is waved, where monuments to our ruin are raised—reminders of the ongoing violence, of the tensions between dream and its discontents, past and present, them and us. I wanted to give visual resonance to these tensions, to our dignified stances amidst the madness, and to our memories of a future foretold.

“The specter of dispossession is haunting us all,” adds multi-instrumentalist Ryan Mahan, continuing:

Everywhere the imperial world represses the ghoulish histories that sustain our pasts, presents and futures. [Vocalist] Franklin [James Fisher]’s lyrics throughout “Dispossession” and on our new record, There is No Year, like a neo-Southern Gothic novel with an anti-oppression undercurrent, testify to this modern horror, and chronicle the various ways we all—through living and longing—endure and resist its persistent attacks.

Watch the “Dispossession” video below and see the details of There Is No Year further down, along with Algiers’ tour dates.

There Is No Year Album Art:

There Is No Year Tracklist:
01. There Is No Year
02. Dispossession
03. Hour of the Furnaces
04. Losing is Ours
05. Unoccupied
06. Chaka
07. Wait for The Sound
08. Repeating Night
09. We Can’t Be Found
10. Nothing Bloomed

Algiers 2020 Tour Dates:

February
03 – Brighton, U.K. @ The Haunt
05 – London, U.K. @ Village Underground
06 – Manchester, U.K. @ YES
07 – Glasgow, U.K. @ Stereo
08 – Dublin, Ireland @ Whelans
10 – Leeds, U.K. @ Brudenell
12 – Brussels, Belgium @ Botanique Rotonde
13 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso Upstairs
14 – Cologne, Germany @ Club Volta
15 – Schorndorf, Germany @ Manufaktur
17 – Frankfurt, Germany @ Zoom
18 – Dresden, Germany @ Beatpol
20 – Warsaw, Poland @ Hybrydy
21 – Prague, Czech Republic @ Lucerna Music Bar
22 – Vienna, Austria @ Flex
25 – Munich, Germany @ Strom
26 – Rome, Italy @ Monk
27 – Milan, Italy @ Ohibò
29 – Barcelona, Spain @ Razzmatazz 3

March
01- Madrid, Spain @ Café Berlin
03 – Bordeaux, France @ Barby
04 – Nantes, France @ Stereolux
05 – Paris, France @ La Maroquinerie
11 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Johnny Brenda’s
12 – Washington, D.C. @ Black Cat
13 – Asheville, N.C. @ Mothlight
14 – Atlanta, Ga. @ 529
20 – Tucson, Ariz. @ Club Congress
21 – San Diego, Calif. @ Casbah
24 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Echo
25 – San Francisco, Calif. @ Slims
28 – Portland, Ore. @ Polaris Hall
29 – Seattle, Wash. @ The Crocodile

April
01 – St. Paul, Minn. @ Turf Club
02 – Milwaukee, Wis. @ Cactus Club
03 – Chicago, Ill. @ Empty Bottle
04 – Columbus, Ohio @ Rumba Café
05 – Detroit, Mich. @ Deluxx Fluxx
06 – Toronto, Ont. @ The Baby G
07 – Montreal, Que. @ Bar Le “Ritz” P.D.B.
09 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Saint Vitus