Spoon Announce First New Album in 5 Years, Share Lead Single “The Hardest Cut”

At long last, Spoon have announced their 10th album, the much-anticipated follow-up to 2017’s acclaimed Hot Thoughts. A press release describes Lucifer on the Sofa, due Feb. 11, 2022, via Matador Records, as “the band’s purest rock ’n‘ roll record to date.” Lead single “The Hardest Cut” is our first preview, out now alongside a music video.

Spoon returned to their hometown of Austin, Texas, to record Lucifer on the Sofa, the first time the quintet has done so in over a decade. Frontman Britt Daniel describes the resulting album as “the sound of classic rock as written by a guy who never did get Eric Clapton.” (Zing.)

“The Hardest Cut” fits the rock throwback bill, with a staggering, detuned guitar riff at its center. The toe-tapping verses almost have a rockabilly chug to them, yet Spoon break that familiar pattern with unexpected guitar stabs, creating a nervous tension that Daniel stokes further with his (appropriately) apocalyptic lyrics: “It’s comin’ down, the hardest cut / World wars in my mind / Long day into night, the hardest cut / We live on a knife.”

“The Hardest Cut” was the first song Spoon (Daniel and keyboardist/guitarist Alex Fischel, to be exact) wrote for their new record—“I spent a lot of 2018 and 2019 listening to ZZ Top,” says Daniel. The band co-produced Lucifer on the Sofa alongside Mark Rankin (Adele, Queens of the Stone Age), with additional contributions from Dave Fridmann and Justin Raisen.

Spoon’s last release was 2019 greatest-hits compilation Everything Hits At Once: The Best of Spoon. They recently completed a fall 2021 U.S. tour, and will ring in 2022 with a hometown New Year’s Eve show at ACL Live at the Moody Theater.

Watch the “The Hardest Cut” video below. Further down, you’ll find Spoon’s 2008 Daytrotter session, Lucifer on the Sofa details and tour info.