Preoccupations Share Frenetic New Track/Video, “Disarray”

Canadian post-punk band Preoccupations have shared a new video from their forthcoming album, New Material, out on March 23 via Jagjaguwar.

New Material is the band’s third studio album and their second under the name Preoccupations. The band’s songwriter, vocalist and bass player Matt Flegel calls the album “an ode to depression. To depression and self-sabotage, and looking inward at yourself with extreme hatred.”

Their new single “Disarray” follows their previously released singles “Espionage” and “Antidote.” “Disarray” is equal parts calming and frenetic. The shoegaze-tinged post-punk tune features cascading vocals, a drum machine, dark, manic guitars and cryptic, cynical lyrics (“It’s easy to see why everything you’ve ever been told is a lie”).

Flegel says of the inspiration behind “Disarray”:

When I was writing “Disarray,” it started off with an image of a mother combing her daughters hair that came into my mind. I liked the metaphor of splitting the braids and combing through the tangles, and wrote the rest of the lyrics around that image. This song sat untouched for close to 6 months as a recording with just bass and drums before we came back to it and wrote and recorded the guitar line while out of our minds one night in the early AM.

The “Disarray” video was directed by Ruff Mercy, shot at Saunton Sands in North Devon and features Flegel amid colorful, stop-motion artwork. Mercy noted, “For me the word Disarray conjures up images of a mind unravelling in a chaotic way. I wanted to physically show that inner turmoil without having to have Matt or an actor run around with a painted face looking distressed so to cut up and distort & draw over Matt’s image felt like an interesting way to show this.”

Preoccupations will kick off their next world tour next month where they will play shows across the U.S., the U.K. and Europe.

Watch the video for “Disarray” and check out their upcoming tour dates below. You can preorder New Material here.

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)