On September 19th, 2025, Nation of Language will release Dance Called Memory, their fourth album and full-length Sub Pop debut. The 10-track effort was recorded, produced, and mixed by returning producer and collaborator Nick Millhiser in New York City and mastered by Heba Kadry in Brooklyn. Dance Called Memory features the current breakout radio single “Inept Apollo,” along with highlights ‘Under the Water,” “In Your Head,” “Silhouette,” and today’s offering, “I’m Not Ready for the Change” with an official video from director John MacKay.
 
Synthpop, minimal wave, post-punk, goth, new romantic — fans and critics alike have dug deeply into their vintage thesauruses to describe the beguiling work of Nation of Language. And if you can’t precisely define the band, that’s the point. Frontman Ian Richard Devaney has become prodigious in expanding what synthesizer-driven music can evoke, such that his output is as much an extrasensory journey as it is an all-too-human destination. With that experience in mind, he wrote the band’s fourth album — the spectral, spacious Dance Called Memory — in the most humble of ways: chipping away at melancholia by sitting around and strumming his guitar.
 
Nation of Language’s first three albums, Introduction, Presence (2020), A Way Forward (2021), and Strange Disciple (2023) came as pandemic-era godsends: gorgeous, relatable soundtracks to our collective doldrums.
 
On Dance Called Memory, Nation of Language once again collaborated with friend and Strange Disciple producer Nick Millhiser (LCD Soundsystem, Holy Ghost!). “What’s so great about Nick is his ability to make us feel like we don’t need to do what might be expected of us,” says synth player Aidan Noell, who, along with bassist Alex MacKay, rounds out the Nation of Language lineup. They imbued Dance Called Memory with a shifted palette — for example, smashing all of the percussion of “In Another Life” through a synthesizer to cast a shade of early-2000s electronic music or by sampling chopped-up drum breaks on “I’m Not Ready for the Change,” for a touch of Loveless-era My Bloody Valentine.
 
Ultimately, the hope was to weave raw vulnerability and humanity into a synth-heavy album. “There is a dichotomy between the Kraftwerk school of thought and the Brian Eno school of thought, each of which I’ve been drawn to at different points. I’ve read about how Kraftwerk wanted to remove all of the humanity from their music, but Eno often spoke about wanting to make synthesized music that felt distinctly human,” Devaney says. “As much as Kraftwerk is a sonically foundational influence, with this record I leaned much more towards the Eno school of thought. In this era quickly being defined by the rise of AI supplanting human creators I’m focusing more on the human condition, and I need the underlying music to support that… Instead of hopelessness, I want to leave the listener with a feeling of us really seeing one another, that our individual struggles can actually unite us in empathy (read full bio at Sub Pop).”
 
Nation of Language has also added a few new shows to their previously announced international headlining tour dates in North America, the EU, and the UK for the fall of 2025.
 
The North American shows begin on Thursday, August 21st in Hamden, CT at Space Ballroom and run through Thursday, October 30th in Washington, DC at 9:30 Club. Highlights for this leg include a hometown, three-night stand September 18th-20th at Brooklyn’s Warsaw and a two-night stand on Wednesday, October 15th and Thursday, October 16th at The Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles.
 
Nation of Language’s UK and EU trek now starts with the addition of the second Dublin, IE show on Thursday, November 6th at Opium and ends Friday, November 28th in Lisbon, PT at LAV. The band will also headline some of their largest UK/EU venues to date on this run, including The Roundhouse in London on Wednesday, November 8th, and Columbiahalle in Berlin on Friday, November 21st.
 
Support for the North American and UK/EU shows will come from Safe Mind (Aug. 21st-23rd), Deathwish Inc.’s Greet Death (Sep. 20th-Oct. 5th), Sub Pop labelmates Deeper (Oct.16th-30th), and Partisan Records act Westerman (Oct. 8th-16th + Nov. 8th-22nd).
 
Preceding the late summer/fall headline run, Nation of Language will also support Death Cab For Cutie on its Plans: 20th Anniversary Tour in Seattle at the Climate Pledge Arena (Thu. Jul. 31st + Sat. Aug. 2nd) and in Chicago at Chicago Theatre (Tue. Aug. 5th + Wed. Aug. 5th).
 

 
Nation of Language previewed the release of Dance Called Memory with the aforementioned “Inept Apollo” by sharing the dioramic official video for the ebullient new single, also directed by John MacKay. The song is currently at #27 on the Mediabase AAA chart, seeing airplay from the likes of Live 105, Sirius XMU, KEXP, KCRW, BBC 6 Music, and more.
 
Dance Called Memory is available to preorder on CD/LP/all DSPs from Sub Pop. LP purchases from Nation of Language’s Offical Webstore, megamart.subpop.com in North America, MM2 in the UK + EU, your local record store, and directly from the band at their live shows will receive the limited “Loser” Edition on Clear + Black & Blue Hi-Melt (NA), Clear Blue w/ White Hi-Melt (Band Web Exclusive) or Corona Red/White (UK/EU) vinyl. There will also be special color variants available, including Rough Trade (UK) and Urban Outfitters (US) (all vinyl color editions whilst stock lasts!).