Post Animal Return (Though Not to Earth) with Stellar New Single “Safe or Not”

The five fine gentlemen of Chicago “pop-prog” act Post Animal are back with their first new music of 2019, celestial dance jam “Safe or Not,” out Wednesday ahead of their North American tour with Twin Peaks. The sprawling and psychedelic new single is the quintet’s first release since Polyvinyl put out their acclaimed debut album When I Think Of You In A Castle in 2018—which, naturally, you already knew, since you spotted Post Animal on Paste’s list of that year’s top Chicago bands to watch. We’re all on the same page here.

“Safe or Not” finds the band, frequently described as dealing in psych rock, lifting off into a more expansive and danceable atmosphere, following a Tame Impala-esque trajectory. The single’s extended mix stretches past the six-minute mark as the guitar-driven rocker slowly but surely transforms into a synth-dominated space-out, the ideal sort of soundtrack to getting hopelessly lost in one’s own starry-eyed imagination.

“We wanted to leave the content more open-ended for the listener to navigate, but it’s about self-reflection,” Post Animal—i.e., Dalton Allison (bass), Jake Hirshland (guitar/keyboard), Javi Reyes (guitar), Wesley Toledo (drums) and Matt Williams (guitar)—say of “Safe or Not” in a statement. “We played around with more somber, serious lyrical content over a particularly dance-oriented song to juxtapose how one may feel internally versus how they’re outwardly portraying themselves in the moment.”

Post Animal kick off their tour tonight (Oct. 30) alongside fellow Chicago staples Twin Peaks and OHMME, playing Headliners Music Hall in Louisville, Ky. They’ll criss-cross the continent over the course of a 17-show run, concluding their tour at The Mohawk in Austin, Texas, on Nov. 23. From there, Post Animal are on to the U.K. and Europe in February 2020, including a handful of shows with Cage the Elephant and SWMRS.

Watch Post Animal’s “Safe or Not” lyric video and revisit their 2018 Paste session below, then find their complete tour itinerary further down. Stay tuned for more Post Animal news—further info is “coming soon,” a press release teases.

Post Animal Tour Dates:

October
30 – Louisville, Ky. @ Headliners Music Hall #$
31 – St. Louis, Mo. @ The Ready Room #$

November
01 – Omaha, Neb. @ The Waiting Room #$
02 – Englewood, Colo. @ Gothic Theatre #$
05 – Salt Lake City, Utah @ Metro Music Hall #$
07 – Seattle, Wash. @ Neumos #$
08 – Portland, Ore. @ Wonder Ballroom #$
09 – Vancouver, B.C. @ Venue #$
12 – Sacramento, Calif. @ Harlow’s #$
13 – San Francisco, Calif. @ Great American Music Hall #$
14 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ Teragram Ballroom #$
15 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ Teragram Ballroom #$
16 – Solana Beach, Calif. @ Belly Up Tavern #$
18 – Phoenix, Ariz. @ The Crescent Ballroom #$
21 – Dallas, Texas @ Deep Ellum Art Co. #$
22 – Houston, Texas @ Satellite Bar #$
23 – Austin, Texas @ The Mohawk #$

February 2020
16 – Leeds, U.K. @ O2 Academy Leeds %
17 – Glasgow, U.K @ O2 Academy Glasgow %
19 – Manchester, U.K @ O2 Victoria Warehouse %
20 – Birmingham, U.K @ O2 Academy %
22 – London, U.K @ Alexandra Palace %
24 – Antwerp, Belgium @ Trix Bar
25 – Paris, France @ Supersonic
26 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso
27 – Hamburg, Germany @ Molotow
28 – Berlin, Germany @ Maze

(# – w/ Twin Peaks(
($ w/ OHMME)
(% – w/ Cage the Elephant, SWMRS)