Spoon Releases Heady New Single/Video, “Can I Sit Next to You”

For a band, crafting anything new after nine albums can be difficult. That’s particularly true for a band such as Spoon, who have defined their careers by subtle expansion and experimentation.

It’s somehow then a minor marvel that Spoon has added to its palette with the heady slice of funk that is “Can I Sit Next to You.” The guitar strums from Britt Daniel could be slotted into a Chic song without batting an eye, while Jim Eno’s perpetual resistance to drum fills or flashy percussion keeps the song in rhythmic check.

Still, this is a song by a band that can’t help but fill the corners of their music with hypnotic accoutrements. At random intervals, disembodied vocals whoosh past Daniel. What sounds like a bit of theremin writhes underneath “Can I Sit Next to You” at one point. Bells chime. Synths flitter and twist about in a fashion not far-removed from Tame Impala’s “Let It Happen.” So, as is often the case, “Can I Sit Next to You” invites comparisons to other bands and past work by Spoon without being a musical retread.

Spoon’s new album, Hot Thoughts, is out March 17 via Matador. Check out the trippy, low-budget video for “Can I Sit Next to You” above, and below, find Paste Cloud audio from a 2008 Daytrotter session from Spoon and the band’s upcoming tour dates.

Spoon Tour Dates:

February
27 – London, England @ 100 Club

March
06 – Santa Ana, Calif. @ The Observatory
14-16 – Austin, Texas @ The Main (SXSW Residency)
23 – Sydney, Australia @ Metro Theatre
25 – Thornbury, Australia @ The Croxton Bandroom

April
27 – Mobile, Ala. @ Soul Kitchen
28 – Oxford, Miss. @ The Lyric
29 – Baton Rouge, La. @ Varsity Theatre

May
01 – Tampa, Fla. @ The Ritz Ybor
02 – Lake Buena Vista, Fla. @ House of Blues
03 – Athens, Ga. @ Georgia theater
05 – Charleston, S.C. @ Music Farm
07 – Raleigh, N.C. @ The Ritz
09 – Knoxville, Tenn. @ The Mill & Mine
11 – Columbus, Ohio @ Newport Music Hall

June
17 – Berlin, Germany @ Festaal Kreuzberg
18 – Mannheim, Germany @ Maifeld Derby Festival
19 – Munich, Germany @ Technikum
27 – Manchester, England @ Gorilla
28 – Glasgow, Scotland @ The Arts School
30 – London, England @ O2 Forum

July
07 – Madrid, Spain @ Mad Cool Festival
08 – Lisbon, Portugal @ NOS Alive
14 – Louisville, Ky. @ Forecastle Festival
15 – Birmingham, Ala. @ Sloss Festival
28 – New York, N.Y. @ Panorama Festival
30 – Columbia, Md. – Merriweather Post Pavilion

August
06 – Hollywood, Calif. @ Hollywood Bowl
08 – Aspen, Colo. @ Belly Up Aspen
09 – Bellvue, Colo. @ Mishawaka Amphitheatre