Today, June 4th, Frankie Cosmos has shared an official video for the album opener, “Pressed Flower,” off the group’s forthcoming long-player, Different Talking, available worldwide on June 27th. Directed by Adam Kolodny, the video stars comedy icon Tracey Ullman alongside the band and others.
Frankie Cosmos’s frontperson, Greta Kline, shares, “It’s a dream come true to have Tracey Ullman star in this video. She’s the funniest person I know, and brings love, depth, and care to every character she plays. Getting to play dress-up with her and find this Manhattanite havoc-wreaker character was a blast. The Director, Adam Kolodny, brought the perfect framework to our crazy concept. This song, for me, is about figuring out who you are, moving on while looking back, and feeling the effects of memories on locations. The video is about someone running around NYC in a disguise, causing a chaotic chain of events for the locals (played by my band).”
Watch this zany and amazing video here.
Different Talking is the band’s sixth and, so far, best album. It’s a collection of fragments and memories, remembered places, and reinterpreted feelings that adds up to a lucent, humming whole: a sturdy, worldly indie-rock record about aging and the passage of time that nonetheless manages to feel sharply current.
The current configuration of Frankie Cosmos features Greta Kline, Alex Bailey, Katie Von Schleicher, and Hugo Stanley. Kline is the only constant, but Stanley, Bailey, and Von Schleicher are crucial collaborators, and to use the names “Greta Kline” and “Frankie Cosmos” interchangeably would be incorrect. Kline remains the primary songwriter, and the band arranges the music on Different Talking as a whole; however, this is the first album to be self-tracked by the unit, with no external studio producers.
“Pressed Flower” follows the previously released singles “Bitch Heart” and “Vanity” which Stereogum described as “…bigger and more complex than most of what we’ve heard from Frankie Cosmos in the past, without sacrificing the innate warm, DIY quality of Kline’s songwriting.”
The band has announced a World Tour, with the North American dates beginning on September 3 and running through October 25. Fantasy Of A Broken Heart and Moontype will support the first leg, from September 3 to September 20, and Chris Cohen & Emily Yacina will support the second leg, from October 9 to October 25. The band will then return to the UK and EU for 7 shows with Babehoven on main support. See below for a complete list of shows.
North America:
Sat. Jul. 26 - Teulon, MB - Real Love Summer Fest
Wed. Sep. 3 - Kingston, NY - Tubby’s #
Thu. Sep. 4 - Philadelphia, PA - Underground Arts #
Fri. Sep. 5 - Washington, DC - Black Cat #
Sat. Sep. 6 - Asheville, NC - Eulogy #
Mon. Sep. 8 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl #
Tue. Sep. 9 - Nashville, TN - Blue Room #
Thu. Sep. 11 - Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon #
Fri. Sep. 12 - Minneapolis, MN - Varsity #
Sat. Sep. 13 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall #
Sun. Sep. 14 - Detroit, MI - El Club #
Mon. Sep. 15 - Toronto, Canada - Great Hall #
Tue. Sep. 16 - Montreal, Canada - Bar le Ritz #
Thu. Sep. 18 - Portland, ME - Space Gallery #
Fri. Sep. 19 - Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall #
Sat. Sep. 20 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg #
Thu. Oct. 9 - Santa Ana, CA - Constellation Room @
Fri. Oct. 10 - San Diego, CA - Quartyard @
Sat. Oct. 11 - Pioneertown, CA - Pappy & Harriets Pioneertown @
Mon. Oct. 13 - Salt Lake City, UT - Soundwell @
Tue. Oct 14 - Boise, ID - Shrine Social Club @
Fri. Oct. 17 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile @
Sat. Oct. 18 - Tacoma, WA - The Spanish Ballroom @
Sun. Oct. 19 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom @
Tue. Oct. 21 - Sacramento, CA - Harlow’s @
Wed. Oct. 22 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall @
Thu. Oct. 23 - Santa Cruz, CA - Catalyst Club Atrium @
Fri. Oct. 24 - Ojai, CA - Deer Lodge @
Sat. Oct. 25 - Los Angeles, CA - Teragram Ballroom @
UK/EU
Sat. Nov. 15 - Dublin, IE - Button Factory $
Mon. Nov. 17 - Manchester, UK - YES (Pink Room) $
Tue. Nov. 18 - London, UK - Electric Brixton $
Fri. Nov. 21 - Paris, FR - Maroquinerie $
Sat. Nov. 22 - Amsterdam, NL - Bitterzoet
Sun. Nov. 23 - Brussels, BE - Botanique $
Tue. Nov. 25 - Berlin, DE - Lido $
# Fantasy Of A Broken Heart & Moontype
@ w/ Chris Cohen & Emily Yacina
$ w/ Babehoven
Different Talking is now available to pre-order on vinyl/CD/digital formats from Sub Pop. A Loser Edition LP on Opaque Red is available through the Sub Pop Mega Mart (North America) and White Vinyl via the Mega Mart 2 (UK/EU), and your local record store
Frankie CosmosDifferent TalkingAlbum Cover Tracklisting: 1. Pressed Flower 2. One of Each 3. Against the Grain 4. Bitch Heart 5. Porcelain 6. One! Grey! Hair! 7. Vanity 8. Not Long 9. Margareta 10. Your Take On 11. High Five Handshake 12. You Become 13. Joyride 14. Tomorrow 15. Wonderland 16. Life Back 17. Pothole |
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On August 15th, 2025, Bret McKenzie will return with Freak Out City, his forthcoming sophomore album worldwide from Sub Pop.
In 2022, Bret released Songs Without Jokes, his well-received solo debut for Sub Pop. His new album, Freak Out City, is a fresh collection of songs he developed while performing live across New Zealand and the United States with his eight-piece band The State Highway Wonders. The influence of his musical heroes Harry Nilsson and Randy Newman resonates again on this record, where Bret playfully weaves humour and heart into his songs.
Recorded in both Los Angeles and New Zealand, the album was co-produced by Bret and his long-time collaborator, Mickey Petralia. It was also mixed by Michael Harris at East West Studios and mastered by Ruairi O’Flaherty at Nomograph Mastering in Los Angeles. The musicians on the record are a mix of LA-based players Leland Sklar, Dean Parks, Drew Erickson, Chris Caswell, and Joey Waronker, as well as New Zealand musicians Ben Lemi, Leo Coghini, Jacqui Nyman, Moana Leota, Iris Little, and Justin Clarke.
Freak Out City features the singles “Shouldna Come Here Tonight,” the title track “Freak Out City”, and today’s offering, “All I Need.”
Bret says of “All I Need”: “This is a love song for my wife, Hannah. We’ve been together a long time. We always love each other, but let’s be honest, there are days we love each other more than other days. This song was from one of those days when we were especially in love.
“It started on the piano with the chorus. From the very beginning, I could hear the horn stabs and the band sound in my head. I loved the chorus so much I started performing the song live before I’d finished the verses.
“I remember around this time I watched the new Beatles documentary ‘Get Back’. George Harrison has a song idea, but doesn’t have the lyrics, and John Lennon’s advice is to just sing the word ‘pomegranate and the lyrics will come eventually.’ Hilarious. I loved this advice. So, for the entire tour, I sang ‘pomegranate’ where I had a gap in the verse. It became known as ‘All I Need (The Pomegranate Song).’
“The song was recorded at The Surgery Studio in Wellington with Lee Prebble engineering. It took a few swings to capture this one, but I love where it landed. Initially, it had an instrumental outro, but I was singing along with the recording at home one night and wondered if there might be a vocal sing-along part. I was just rocking out with myself, doing my best Paul McCartney impression. I didn’t seriously think it would make the track. But when we were recording vocals that week, we tried singing the idea with backing singers Iris Little and Moana Leota. We were all looking at each other, going ‘yeah, that’s cool.’ We tracked it immediately, and I think you can feel that energy in the recording. We’re pretty much singing it for the first time when we recorded it.”
Freak Out City is available now to preorder on CD/LP/all streaming services from Sub Pop. LP preorders from megamart.subpop.com in North America, MM2 in the UK + EU, and your local record store, will receive the limited Loser Edition on Glacial Blue (NA) or Light Rosé (UK/EU) vinyl (all vinyl color editions whilst stock lasts!).
Bret and The State Highway Wonders will hit the road in support of Freak Out City this fall – Dates to be announced soon.
Bret McKenzie is a Grammy and Academy Award-winning musician who is most well-known for his band Flight of the Conchords and their eponymous television show. He is internationally renowned for singing and writing funny, strange, and unique songs primarily for film and television. Bret’s songs have been sung by Kermit the Frog, Celine Dion, Lizzo, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brittany Howard, Homer and Lisa Simpson, Fred Armisen, Miss Piggy, Amy Adams, Jason Segal, Ricky Gervais, Benee, Isabela Merced, Spongebob Squarepants, Tony Bennett, Mickey Rooney, and more (read full bio at Sub Pop).
What People Have Said About Bret McKenzie:
“Baroque-pop delight. Evocative of Harry Nilsson and Randy Newman at their most extroverted. McKenzie’s songs provide great warmth.” Uncut
“While there is unquestionably great wit at play, there is also sincerity and real tenderness.” The Guardian
“The songs grapple with today’s problems, but they’re every bit as charming, silly and heartfelt as one would expect from the motherflippin’ Rhymenoceros.” EXCLAIM!
“Drenched in Americana, dipping into ragtime pop and melancholy piano balladry in the vein of Randy Newman, Billy Joel, Harry Nilsson and Tom Petty…” NME
Bret McKenzie
Freak Out City
Tracklisting:
1. Bethnal Green Blues
2. Freak Out City
3. The Only Dream I Know
4. All the Time
5. That’s the Way the World Goes ‘Round
6. All I Need
7. Eyes on the Sun
8. Too Young
9. Highs and Lows
10. Shouldna Come Here Tonight
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