Dispatch Announce New Album America, Location 12, Their First Since 2012

Dispatch are returning this summer with their first album since 2012. After announcing a U.S. tour and releasing a new song last month, the band are now ready to share the news about their new record.

Titled America, Location 12, the batch of new tunes were largely recorded at Panoramic House, a scenic studio located right on the coast in Stinson Beach, Calif. In a press release, singer and guitarist Chadwick Stokes describes the experience of being out in that setting, saying, “When the fog permitted, we could watch the sun set into the sea—for two East Coast kids and a mountain boy, this is a spiritual thing … We were able to sonically stretch out in a way we never had before.” As far as the songs go, Stokes’ proclivity towards the politically or socially minded tune seems to be at the forefront, with the band’s tradition of activism serving as inspiration for much of the new material. While this isn’t new territory for Dispatch, it certainly feels even more relevant given the last year the world has faced, which Stokes recognizes, noting, “Everything feels like it’s coming to a head. If we can be a band in today’s climate that brings these issues up in a non-traditional way, then that’s really fulfilling for us.”

To celebrate the album announcement, they’ve also released “Skin the Rabbit,” the second single from the record. Opening with a distorted bluesy guitar riff, the song sees Stokes and singer and multi-instrument Brad Corrigan trading lines back and forth before coming together on the chorus. There’s a noticeably new direction for the band’s sound in this track, largely in the production work of John Dragonetti (The Submarines) and Mike Sawitzke (The Eels) who both worked on the whole album, but it’s also unmistakably a Dispatch song and lyrics like “Oil in the sand, oil in the sand / A gun in every hand and we die like the buffalo” fit snugly into the cannon of Stokes’ political material.

America, Location 12 is out June 2 via the band’s own Bomber Records. You can find “Skin the Rabbit” below, along with the album art and tracklist for the album and a full list of the band’s tour dates, including their newly announced European tour this September. Listen to previous single “Only the Wild Ones” here.

America, Location 12 Album Art:

America, Location 12 Tracklist:
01. Be Gone
02. Only the Wild Ones
03. Curse + Crush
04. Painted Yellow Lines
05. Skin the Rabbit
06. Midnight Lorry
07. Begin Again
08. Rice Water
09. Windy Like
10. Ghost Town
11. Atticus Cobain

Dispatch Tour Dates:

June
16 – Morrison, Colo. @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
17 – Telluride, Colo. @ Telluride Bluegrass Festival
20 – Austin, Texas @ Stubb’s
23 – Charlotte, N.C. @ CMCU Amphitheatre
24 – Atlanta, Ga. @ Chastain Park Amphitheatre
26 – Louisville, Ky. @ Iroquois Amphitheater
27 – Columbus, Ohio @ Express Live!
28 – Indianapolis, Ind. @ Farm Bureau Insurance Lawn at White River Junction

July
01 – Chicago, Ill. @ Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
02 – Rochester Hills, Mich. @ Meadow Brook
03 – Cedar Rapids, Iowa @ McGrath Amphitheatre
06 – Forest Hills, N.Y. @ Forest Hills Stadium
07 – Columbia, Md. @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
08 – Marshfield, Mass. @ Levitate Festival
09 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ The Skyline Stage at The Mann Center for Performing Arts

September
12 – London, U.K. @ Electric Ballroom
14 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Melkweg
15 – Munich, Germany @ Backstage Halle
16 – Hannover, Germany @ Faust
17 – Cologne, Germany @ Gloria
19 – Berlin, Germany @ Columbia Theatre
21 – Frankfurt, Germany @ Batschkapp
22 – Linz, Austria @ Posthof
23 – Vienna, Austria @ Arena Big Hall
24 – Zurich, Switzerland @ Dynamo