Preoccupations to Release New Material in March

Preoccupations’ extremely literal new album, titled New Material, is due out in March. The Canadian quartet formerly known as Viet Cong detailed their third LP on Tuesday, in addition to sharing lead single “Espionage” and setting a world tour.

Preoccupations are known for dark, devastating post-punk, and their New Material won’t find them straying from that tack. Lead vocalist, songwriter and bassist Matt Flegel calls the album “an ode to depression. To depression and self-sabotage, and looking inward at yourself with extreme hatred.” Writing and recording the lead single was where Flegel found himself standing on the edge of an abyss: “Finishing ‘Espionage’ was when I realized,” he recalls. “I looked at the rest of the lyrics and realized the magnitude of what was wrong.”

With all that said, the album-opening “Espionage” is much brighter than you’d expect, at least instrumentally. The song melds reverberating drums with shiny, retro-sounding synths and muted guitars, with only Flegel’s harsh vocals conveying Preoccupations’ usual menace.

The 2015 Best of What’s Next picks self-recorded New Material and Justin Meldal-Johnson (M83, Wolf Alice) mixed the album, which a press release calls “their strongest and most powerful album to date.” It follows their self-titled debut as Preoccupations, released in 2016.

Preoccupations kick off their world tour in spring, beginning with a Toronto show on April 14. The band will tour North America through the month of May, stopping in New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, their native Calgary, Los Angeles, Portland and more before heading to Europe in June and July. Preoccupations are known for their incredibly intense live shows—we likened their performance at Shaky Knees 2017 to “an Apocalypse Now-esque descent into madness” and “a miasma of dark energy that was impossible to ignore.”

Listen to “Espionage” below, see Preoccupations’ tour dates further down and preorder New Material here. The album’s tracklist and cover art are included below, as well.

New Material Tracklist:
01. Espionage
02. Decompose
03. Disarray
04. Manipulation
05. Antidote
06. Solace
07. Doubt
08. Compliance

New Material Album Art:

Preoccupations Tour Dates:

April
14 – Toronto, Ontario @ Horseshoe Tavern
18 – Boston, Mass. @ Brighton Music Hall *
19 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Rough Trade *
20 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Elsewhere (Zone One) ^
23 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Underground Arts *
24 – Washington, D.C. @ Rock & Roll Hotel *
26 – Columbus, Ohio @ The A&R Music Bar *
27 – Chicago, Ill. @ Empty Bottle *
29 – Minneapolis, Minn. @ 7th Street Entry *

May
01 – Winnipeg, Manitoba @ Pyramid Cabaret *
03 – Edmonton, Alberta @ Starlite *
04 – Calgary, Alberta @ Palomino *
05 – Calgary, Alberta @ Palomino
09 – Vancouver, British Columbia @ The Cobalt
11 – Seattle, Wash. @ Barboza #
12 – Portland, Ore. @ Star Theater #
14 – San Francisco, Calif. @ Rickshaw Stop #
18 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Echo #
19 – Phoenix, Ariz. @ Valley Bar #
22 – Austin, Texas @ Barracuda
23 – Dallas, Texas @ Club Dada
24 – St. Louis, Mo. @ Firebird

June
05 – London, U.K. @ London Underground
07 – Berlin, Germany @ Musik & Frieden
10 – Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands @ Best Kept Secret Festival
11 – Paris, France @ Maroquinerie
12 – Ramsgate, U.K. @ RMH
13 – Leeds, U.K. @ Brudenell Social Club

July
03 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Sugarfactory
04 – Hamburg, Germany @Molotow

(^ – w/ Odonis Odonis)
(* – w/ Freak Heat Waves)
(# – w/ Moaning)