John Early and The Lemon Squares Announce Now More Than Ever Album and Tour

John Early is heading on tour. The comic will take stages around the country to coincide with the release of a new album, Now More Than Ever, on September 13. The album and tour are a continuation of Early’s comedy special of the same name, released last year by HBO. Now More Than Ever made Paste’s list of the best comedy specials of 2023. 

Now More Than Ever the album will feature four new cover songs from Early and his band, The Lemon Squares. The group will play Madonna’s “American Life,” Aaliyah’s “Rock the Boat,” Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton’s “The Pain of Loving You,” and Donna Summer’s “My Baby Understands.” The album will also feature an exclusive set with Early’s alter ego, Vicky with a V. 

Early is perhaps best known for his collaborations with Kate Berlant and his work on the series Search Party, which began on TBS before moving to HBO. In 2022, Early and Berlant collaborated on Would It Kill You to Laugh?, a sketch comedy special for Peacock. The two starred in Andrew DeYoung’s Vimeo miniseries 555, in 2017. He also played Jenna Maroney’s son on 30 Rock, was on Apple TV’s The Afterparty, had a sketch special as part of the Netflix series The Characters, and has appeared on I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson.

“I’ve been performing comedy and music with my long suffering band The Lemon Squares for over 10 years now, and I always assumed that there was no way to capture the magic of our live shows,” Early says in a news release. “But listening to this album takes me right back to that sweaty night in downtown Brooklyn, which felt something like being a crazed preacher at a tent revival.”

The tour will begin on September 9 in San Diego. More than twenty dates across the country have been announced. The Lemon Squares will join Early on stage for two performances. First, at The Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles on September 17. Then at Webster Hall in New York on October 14. At present, the tour will end on October 21 in Durham, North Carolina. Learn more here. 

Will DiGravio is a Brooklyn-based critic and researcher, who first contributed to Paste in 2022. He is an assistant editor at Cineaste, a GALECA member, and since 2019 has hosted The Video Essay Podcast. You can follow and/or unfollow him on Twitter and learn more about him via his website.