Sub Pop Records News

News

NEWS : TUE, JUN 3, 2025 at 6:00 AM

Bret McKenzie’s Freak Out City His Forthcoming Sophomore Album Will Be Out August 15th Worldwide On Sub Pop

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

Bret McKenzie Official Website | Instagram |TikTok | Facebook

NEWS : TUE, MAY 27, 2025 at 6:00 AM

Alan Sparhawk of Low Shares “Get Still” (+ Official Video), The Latest Single From His New Album, With Trampled by Turtles

Today, Alan Sparhawk has shared an official video for “Get Still,” the final pre-release single from the forthcoming With Trampled by Turtles, available worldwide from Sub Pop on Friday, May 30, 2025.

Originally appearing in alternate form on Sparhawk’s 2024 release, White Roses, My God, this once abstract lyrical improvisation is now rendered clear as day, with lush acoustic instrumentation by fellow Duluth musical travelers Trampled by Turtles. For Sparhawk, revisiting the track meant understanding where it came from emotionally: “You want to be true to what you’re singing.” Watch here.

The Wire says of the album, “Thanks undoubtedly to their established friendship and chemistry, With Trampled by Turtles sees Sparhawk and the band bring an effortlessness and consistency to material of varied origin, from old songs never recorded with Low, to newer compositions. Notably, two songs from White Roses… appear in altered form here; wrenched from their electronic cage into warmer, more open environs, and no less moving or complicated for it. ‘Heaven’ retains the simplicity of its lilting minute-long original, with Sparhawk’s straightforward plea (‘Heaven/It’s a lonely place if you’re alone/l wanna be there’) accompanied by mandolin. The synthesized chorus of ‘Get Still’ is now an enveloping embrace of real voices. On ‘Not Broken,’ one of two older songs co-written with Parker, the couple’s daughter Hollis is a grounding force, repeating the chorus (‘It’s not broken/I’m not angry’) like a mantra.”

Sparhawk just finished a North American tour and will continue touring in support of both of his recent releases through the remainder of 2025. Please find a current list of dates below.

2025 Tour Dates
Wed. May 28 - Liverpool, UK - Arts Club
Thu. May 29 - London, UK - EartH
Fri. May 30 - Portsmouth, UK - Wedgewood Rooms
Sat. May 31 - Utrecht, NL - TivoliVredenBurg (Cloud Nine)
Mon. Jun. 02 - Turin, IT- Spazio211
Tue. Jun. 03 - Rome, IT - Largo Venue
Wed. Jun. 04 - Bologna, IT - Express Festival (Locomotiv Club)
Thu. Jun. 05 - Milan, IT- Unaltrofestival - Magnolia
Sat. Jun. 07 - Barcelona, ES - Primavera Festival
Mon. Jun. 09 - Madrid, ES - Sala El Sol
Thu. Jun. 12 - Porto, PT - Primavera Festival
Sat. Aug. 02 - Tasov, CZ - Beseda Festival
Sun. Aug. 03 - Katowice, PL - OFF Festival
Tue. Aug. 05 - Copenhagen, DK - Lille Vega
Wed. Aug. 06 - Oslo, NO - John Dee
Sat. Aug. 09 - Sicily, IT - Ypsigrock Festival
Mon. Aug. 11- Cambridge, UK - Junction 2
Tue. Aug. 12 - Newcastle, UK - The Cluny
Wed. Aug. 13 - Nottingham, UK - Rescue Rooms
Thu. Aug. 14 - Norwich, UK - Norwich Arts Centre
Fri. Aug. 15, 2025 - Glanusk Park, UK - Green Man Festival
Sat. Sept. 06 - Grand Rapids, MI - River Fest

With Trampled by Turtles is still available to preorder from Sub Pop. LP pre-orders from the Sub Pop Mega Mart (North America), Mega Mart 2 (UK/EU), and independent retailers worldwide will receive the limited Loser Edition on Sunflare Vinyl (US) and Cream White (UK/EU) while stock lasts!

What People Are Saying About
Alan Sparhawk With Trampled by Turtles:

“With Trampled by Turtles…presents the collective energy of music-making as an ineluctable force for good.” ★★★★ MOJO

“Fellowship, easement and instinct on the songwriter’s second
after Low.” - [8/10] Uncut

“It’s a sound we haven’t quite heard from Sparhawk yet. ‘Stranger’ filters the band’s bluegrass roots through Sparhawk’s knack for atmospheric, post-rock-inspired arrangements, like if Things We Lost in the Fire took a shot or two of Jack Daniel’s.” - Stereogum

“[‘Stranger’]…earthy folk-inspired rock, with the emotional weight of Sparhawk’s voice once again gripping and resonant.” - Post-Trash

“It’s a warm and layered folk ballad, performed gorgeously, channeling
R.E.M.’s best moments from Automatic for the People.” - [‘Stranger’] - Treble

“[a] banjo-laced lament about resisting anger in the face of loss…” [“Not
Broken”] - The Guardian

“It’s enough to leave a lump in your throat” - [“Not Broken”] - Stereogum

“…he sings, his fragile voice floating atop the folk ensemble Trampled by
Turtles’ lush musical backdrop. Then a female voice comes in… [belonging] to Sparhawk and Parker’s daughter, Hollis Sparhawk, and
it blends perfectly with her father’s.” - [“Not Broken”] - Rolling Stone

“‘Not Broken’ becomes a song of loss, but also of defiance, and
perseverance.” - CLASH

Alan Sparhawk
With Trampled by Turtles

Track Listing:
1. Stranger
2. Too High
3. Heaven
4. Not Broken
5. Screaming Song
6. Get Still
7. Princess Road Surgery
8. Don’t Take Your Light
9. Torn & in Ashes

Alan Sparhawk/Low Instagram Facebook

NEWS : THU, MAY 22, 2025 at 7:00 AM

Forth Wanderers To Release The Longer This Goes On Their Third Album, July 18th, 2025 Worldwide From Sub Pop

Forth Wanderers – Ava Trilling, Ben Guterl, Zach Lorelli, Noah Yu Schifrin, and Duke Greene – will release The Longer This Goes On, their third album, worldwide through Sub Pop on Friday, July 18th, 2025. The album, which includes the standouts “To Know Me/To Love Me,” “Bluff,” ‘Barnard,” and today’s offering, “7 Months,” was produced by Dan Howard at Chateau Grand Studios and Future Sounds in New York, and mixed and mastered by Al Carlson at Gary’s Electric in New York. The Longer This Goes On is the group’s first recorded output since the release of Forth Wanderers, their beloved 2018 Sub Pop debut.

Watch the dizzying official video “7 Months” directed by band member Schifrin and his sister Elisabeth Schifrin.

The Longer This Goes On is available to preorder now on CD/LP/all DSPs 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 Milky Clear (NA) or White (UK/EU) vinyl (all vinyl color editions whilst stock lasts!).

About Forth Wanderers The Longer This Goes On:
There’s one thing Forth Wanderers want to make clear as they prepare to release their third album The Longer This Goes On: “We’re not back,” guitarist Ben Guterl says emphatically. It’s perhaps an unexpected sentiment to pair with the band’s first album since they parted ways seven years ago, but the band insists it’s just an honest answer—they came together to record the ten intricately constructed gems that make up this new record, and they’re still figuring out what being in Forth Wanderers means to them, over ten years after the project’s conception. Listening to these songs, each a glittering celebration of vocalist Ava Trilling’s urgent and intuitive lyrics and the band’s natural musical chemistry, though, it’s hard to feel like there’s much of anything left unsaid. Filled with spit-shined melodies, chiming vocal harmonies, and slinky, slanted rhythms, the album is more expansive than just a return to form. Here, the band aren’t afraid to take the scenic route to a hook, layering instrumental flourishes to fill in the empty spaces, creating room for Trilling’s haunting range, or repeating a riff or a lyric until it becomes a Zen koan. On The Longer This Goes On, Forth Wanderers sound more self-aware and self-assured than ever before. Just don’t call it a comeback.

The road to The Longer This Goes On began in a Brooklyn coffee shop during the summer of 2021. There, Guterl and Trilling met for the first time since Forth Wanderers’ dissolution in 2018. “We talked for four or five hours about everything under the sun,” Trilling explained. “At the tail end of our conversation, Ben asked if I wanted to try making music again.” The question took her by surprise, but Trilling agreed. The three years they’d been apart had deflated some of the pressures the band felt when they were touring their previous music: “It felt like there wasn’t as much riding on the band,” Guterl added. “We all felt free to mess around and have fun.” Guterl remembers the reassurance he felt when he reconnected to play music with bassist Noah Schifrin, guitarist Duke Greene, and drummer Zach Lorelli: “It felt the best it had between us since we had started the band. It felt like we were just in high school again.”

From the bottom up, the band reimagined the way they were used to working. “Prior to this, the band built songs from demos Ben would send us,” Schifrin explained. “This is the first time where a lot of the music was formed organically.” “All five of us really contributed to the writing process in ways that we hadn’t before in the past,” Guterl added.

There’s evidence of this collaborative environment throughout the album: Take the simmering slowburn “Honey,” which opens with just a reverberating guitar and Trilling’s honeyed vocals, weaving a languid, lazy melody, before a drum fill introduces a gallop. By its end, the song sounds something closer to a blissed-out disco, a honky tonk in heaven. On “Springboard,” the guitar’s melody seems to sizzle, melt, and burst as Trilling’s lyrics twist the voyeuristic gaze on her imagined observer: “Do you like to watch me dance?” But for every slow, sauntering groove, there’s the ebullient pop rush of “Barnard,” which opens with the fervent march of a drum and never looks back, stacking guitar riffs like the fireworks as the song careens towards its explosive conclusion. “Bluff,” by contrast, opens with the cool tones of the keyboard and auxiliary percussion, Trilling’s voice guiding the song through to its melancholic core. These moments, under the watchful eye of producer Dan Howard, capture the band at their most present and unburdened, creating their sound in real time for the very first time.

The distance since the band’s initial split also allowed for some much needed time for growth and reflection. “To be able to apologize for things and address things, to acknowledge how hard it must have been to be a young woman in a band of dudes—we were working through a lot, and it was hard,” Schifrin added. They were, at various points, still only teenagers when their music started gaining traction with musicians like Lorde, and the distance between that adolescent fame and their adult lives has allowed for reflection. “Seven years later, we’re coming together as… not different people, but adults. There’s not the pressure to be labeled a certain way or stay in your comfort zone,” Trilling said. “We had more fun with style and testing what we could get away with, whether it’s bluesy, country, slower, or darker; whatever sounded good.”

Indeed, the fiery spirit of country and blues is present across the record—from the swaggering bassline of “Make Me” to the spun-out melodies of “Spit”—a fitting mode for Trilling’s lyrics, which are at turns wry, painfully honest, and always burning with an undeniable forthrightness. “Don’t pull me up / I’d rather we lie down. Move my tongue / so I can make a sound,” she sings on “To Know Me/ To Love Me,” sounding equal parts overwhelmed and over it, as if overcommitting oneself is just the price of entry for a life worth living. On “7 Months,” she sings of sleepless nights and weeks spent lying in bed, only to hope that the nameless “you” in the song will stick by her side. These kinds of confessionals—broad enough to make anyone lost in the mess of an uncertain romantic limbo feel understood, yet so precisely written that it must have clearly come from lived experience—are exactly what made Forth Wanderers songs both so universally relatable and specifically felt. On The Longer This Goes On, they’ve deepened that ability to pull at potent threads of romantic ennui with minimalist lyrics and lush instrumentation.

Forth Wanderers aren’t sure what’s next—they’re not sure if they’ll continue to record new music or if they’ll ever perform these songs live. These recordings, then, are ten fleeting yet invaluable impressions of the time spent as a band; rekindling of friendships between high school buddies whose dreams catapulted them into the spotlight before they were old enough to drive; songs that capture the uncertainty of the future as much as their music cements their own self-confidence in the present. On The Longer This Goes On, Forth Wanderers are making music on their own terms.

What People Have Said About Forth Wanderers:
“Forth Wanderers Made An Indie Rock Record For The Ages” [Forth Wanderers] STEREOGUM

“… Guterl’s spry and smoky guitar lines and Trilling’s blunt, diaristic lyrics gave the band an urbane sensibility, one that feels not just older in age, but in sound.” [Forth Wanderers] Pitchfork

“Forth Wanderers are built on warm and weathered guitar hooks complementing vocalist Ava Trilling’s dreamy and apprehensive voice, which is drenched in suburban ennui and hazy sweetness.” [Forth Wanderers] EXCLAIM!

“‘Taste,’ in particular, came from diametrically opposed places in their young love lives. … Still, the distance — emotional and physical — doesn’t undercut the dizzying intimacy of the song.” NPR MUSIC

“A driving slice of indie-rock that’s propelled by clashing drums and vocalist Ava Trilling’s powerful, sometimes swooning vocals.” [“Not for Me”] DIY

“As wholesome and heartening as we’ve come to expect, led, as always, by Ava Trilling’s tremendous lead voice which leaps between glowing energy and something altogether more melancholic, but always pushed to sumptuous heights by the muscular backing of the band, which continues to be a bold and pertinent facet of the band’s stature. A woozy, wonderful return”. [Not for Me] Gold Flake Paint

“A feral dose of guitar noise that somehow holds itself together over that four minute span.” [“Not for Me”] CLASH

Forth Wanderers
The Longer This Goes On

Tracklisting:
1. To Know Me/To Love Me
2. Call You Back
3. Honey
4. 7 Months
5. Spit
6. Springboard
7. Make Me
8. Barnard
9. Bluff
10. Don’t Go Looking

NEWS : THU, MAY 15, 2025 at 7:00 AM

Nation of Language Signs To Sub Pop! Watch the “Inept Apollo” Official Video And 2025 Headlining International Tour Dates

Sub Pop will be the new home for Nation of Language – the Brooklyn, NY-based trio composed of Ian Richard Devaney (lead vocals, guitar), Aidan Noell (synthesizer), and Alex MacKay (bass guitar) – to release their new music worldwide in 2025 and beyond. Today, we’re celebrating the announcement by sharing the dioramic official video for the ebullient new single “Inept Apollo,” directed by John MacKay. The song is available today on all DSPs worldwide from Sub Pop.

Devaney offers this on the “Inept Apollo” song and video:
“Work is a respite from pain. Whether it’s a paying job or just the thing you pour yourself into, having a direction to move in, finding a flow state, it can move focus away from the heaviness of the heart. So after life’s losses, in moments of despair, we resolve time and time again to dive headfirst into the work as best we can. But the artistic process also tends to be when imposter syndrome rears its ugly head - when I find my inner monologue spiraling: ‘this is the best coping mechanism I have at my disposal and I’m not even qualified to be doing it.’

“Accompanying the song is a killer music video by our friend and brother John MacKay: it is an homage to creative pursuits, and in some ways came to represent the feeling of living in a city as an artist. The video feels like walking through an old warehouse in Brooklyn, full of practice spaces and studios, each room occupied by artists striving to express and understand themselves and their place in the world. No matter how bizarre the act may seem or how much self-doubt or pain runs through the mind of the creator, the beautiful thing is the striving and continuing on, rather than the final product or any notion of “success.” The power of creation belongs to all of us; requires the approval of none.”

Nation of Language is also announcing international headlining tour dates in North America, the EU, and the UK for the fall of 2025.

The North American shows begin 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.

Their UK and EU trek starts Friday, November 7th in Dublin, IE at Opium and ends Friday, November 28th in Lisbon, PT at LAV. Nation of Language will 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 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. 21st-Oct. 5th), Sub Pop labelmates Deeper (Oct.17th-30th), and Partisan Records act Westerman (Oct. 8th-13th + Nov. 8th-22nd).

North American fan presales (Pass: APOLLO) are live now, with tickets on sale to the general public on Friday, May 16th at 10 am (local). Meanwhile, UK/EU presale tickets (Pass: APOLLO) are also live now, with tickets on sale to the general public on Friday, May 16th at 10 am (BST) / 11 am (CEST).

This weekend, Nation of Language will perform at the Cruel World Festival in Pasadena, CA, on Saturday, May 17th, and at Kilby Block Party on Sunday, May 18th.

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 two sold-out shows in Chicago at Chicago Theatre (Tue. Aug. 5th + Wed. Aug. 5th). Please find a complete list of dates below.

Nation of Language has attracted a rapidly growing and devout international audience via their danceable and impassioned take on new wave, post-punk, and shoegaze. They’ve released three albums, including Introduction, Presence (2020), A Way Forward (2021), and Strange Disciple (2023). They’ve seen coverage from Billboard, The New York Times, Document Journal, Brooklyn Vegan, MOJO, NME, Pitchfork, Stereogum, and have performed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Nation of Language’s most recent release, Strange Disciple and its singles appeared on multiple “Best of 2023” lists, earning “Album of the Year” from UK retailer Rough Trade and coming in at #2 on KEXP’s annual listeners’ list. Recently, “Weak In Your Light” was featured in the series finale of the Netflix hit You.

Nation of Language has become a favorite on the international festival circuit, winning over crowds at festivals like Austin City Limits Festival, Desert Daze, Pitchfork Festival, Primavera Sound, Pukkelpop, Corona Capital, Outside Lands, and Bonnaroo, among many others.

Nation of Language
Spring & Summer 2025 Festival + Support Shows
Sat. May 17 - Los Angeles, CA - Cruel World Fest
Sun. May 18 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Block Party
Thu. Jul. 31 - Seattle, WA - Climate Pledge Arena **
Sat. Aug. 02 - Seattle, WA - Climate Pledge Arena **
Tue. Aug. 05 - Chicago, IL - Chicago Theater ** [Sold Out]
Wed. Aug. 06 - Chicago, IL - Chicago Theater ** [Sold Out]

August - October 2025
North American Headline Shows
Thu. Aug. 21 - Hamden, CT - Space Ballroom !
Fri. Aug. 22 - Woodstock, NY - Bearsville Theater !
Sat. Aug. 23 - Portland, ME - State Theatre !
Thu. Sep. 18 - Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw
Fri. Sep. 19 - Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw
Sat. Sep. 20 - Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw
Sun. Sep. 21 - Boston, MA - Royale #
Tue. Sep. 23 - Detroit, MI - The Majestic #
Wed. Sep. 24 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall #
Fri. Sep. 26 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue #
Sat. Sep. 27 - Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall Ballroom #
Mon. Sep. 29 - Omaha, NE - Slowdown #
Tue. Sep. 30 - Kansas City, MO - The Truman #
Thu. Oct. 02 - Denver, CO - The Gothic Theatre #
Sat. Oct. 04 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory #
Sun. Oct. 05 - Missoula, MT - Top Hat #
Wed. Oct. 08 - Vancouver, BC - The Pearl ^
Sun. Oct. 11 - Portland, OR - Revolution Hall ^
Mon. Oct. 13 - San Francisco. CA - The Fillmore ^
Fri. Oct. 17 - San Diego, CA - Music Box *
Tue. Oct. 21 - Austin, TX - Mohawk *
Wed. Oct. 22 - Dallas, TX - The Studio at The Bomb Factory *
Thu. Oct. 24 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall *
Sat. Oct. 25 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse *
Sun. Oct. 26 - Chapel Hill, NC - Cat’s Cradle *
Mon. Oct. 27 - Richmond, VA - The Broadberry *
Wed. Oct. 29 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer *
Thu. Oct. 30 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club *

November 2025
UK/EU Headlining Shows
Fri. Nov. 07 - Dublin, IE - Opium
Sat. Nov. 08 - Manchester, UK - O2 Ritz Manchester ^
Sun. Nov. 09 - Glasgow, UK - St. Luke’s ^
Tue. Nov. 11 - Cardiff, UK - Tramshed ^
Wed. Nov. 12 - London, UK - The Roundhouse ^
Fri. Nov. 14 - Paris, FR - Elysee Montmartre ^
Sat. Nov. 15 - Amsterdam, NL - Melkweg ^
Sun. Nov. 16 - Nijmegen, NL - Doornroosje ^
Tue. Nov. 18 - Cologne, DE - Gloria ^
Wed. Nov. 19 - Hamburg, DE - Uebel & Gefährlich ^
Fri. Nov. 21 - Berlin, DE - Columbiahalle ^
Sat. Nov. 22 - Munich, DE - Technikum ^
Sun. Nov. 23 - Milan, IT - Magazzini Generali
Wed. Nov. 26 - Barcelona, ES - Razzmatazz
Thu. Nov. 27 - Madrid, ES - La Riviera
Fri. Nov. 28 - Lisbon, PT - LAV

** w/ Death Cab For Cutie
! w/ Safe Mind
# w/ Greet Death
* w/ Deeper
^ w/ Westermann

NEWS : WED, MAY 14, 2025 at 6:00 AM

Listen to The Bug Club’s “Appropriate Emotions” The New Single From Very Human Features

Today is May 14th, and The Bug Club are sharing “Appropriate Emotions,” a new offering and the closing track from the group’s forthcoming new long-player, Very Human Features.

It’s no surprise that, in poking fun at the familiar, the humour is turned inwards and it’s The Bug Club themselves in their own firing line. It’s a rollercoaster unpicking of whatever-it-is The Bug Club do, while at the same time building on the work done in previous albums and presenting us with layers of creativity piled up atop one another.

Sam and Tilly, combined. There’s a name for that - and it’s tempting to think that they might be, given all the joking around. But the multi-dimensional nature to The Bug Club is what makes Very Human Features just as relistenable as their previous work.

The new single tackles expectations and comparisons, with a loud-quiet-loud structure reflecting the ups-and-downs and outbursts unavoidable in frustration and anger. “Appropriate Emotions” manages to be deeply relatable while making its singers sound about as removed from the human experience as possible - perhaps that’s why it’s relatable.

The Bug Club is currently on the road supporting Very Human Features and their previous Sub Pop release, 2024’s On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System by Means of Popular Music, or the Contemplation of Pretty Faces, Tinned Bubbles and Strife. PLUS! Some of their older songs. Tonight, Wednesday, May 14th they’ll headline L’Aeronef in Lille, France, before a short UK festival run May 15th-May 31st, which includes two appearances at The Great Escape Festival.

Then in June, the band will pair up with Sub Pop label mates Omni for a month-long trek beginning Friday, June 13th in Montreal, QC at Cabaret Foufounes and running through Friday, June 27th in Philadelphia, PA at Johnny Brenda’s.

From July 26th-September 13th, the Bug Club will hit the UK festival circuit once again, with stops at Deershed Festival (Jul. 26th), Utrecht, NL’s Loose Ends Festival (Aug.23rd), End of the Road Festival (Aug. 29th), Manchester’s Psych Fest (Aug. 30th), and Sonic Boom Festival (Sep.13th). They’ll also support Queens of the Stone Age in Sheffield (Aug. 27th). Please find a complete list of current tour dates below.

UK | EU
Headlining Dates + Festivals, Spring 2025
Wed. May 14 - Lille, FR - L’Aeronef
Thu. May 15 - Brighton, UK - The Great Escape Festival @ Paganini Ballroom (Early)
Thu. May 15 - Brighton, UK - The Great Escape Festival @ The Old Market (Late)
Sat. May 24 - Walton-on-Trent, UK - Bearded Theory, Festival
Sat. May 31 - Cheltenham, UK - Wychwood Festival

North American | UK
Headline Dates, Festivals + Support Shows, Summer 2025
Fri. Jun. 13 - Montreal, QC - Cabaret Foufounes *
Sat. Jun. 14 - Toronto, ON - The Garrison *
Sun. Jun. 15 - Detroit, MI - Third Man Records *
Tue. Jun. 17 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle *
Wed. Jun. 18 - St. Louis, MO - Sinkhole *
Thu. Jun. 19 - Nashville, TN - DRKMTTR *
Fri. Jun 20 - Nelsonville, OH - Nelsonville Art & Music Festival
Sat. Jun. 21 - Nelsonville, OH - Nelsonville Art & Music Festival
Mon. Jun. 23 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West *
Tue. Jun. 24 - Raleigh, NC - King’s *
Wed. Jun. 25 - Washington, DC- DC9 *
Thu. Jun. 26 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom*
Fri. Jun. 27 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda’s *
Sat. Jul. 26 - Thirsk, UK - Deer Shed Festival
Sat. Aug. 23 – Utrecht, NL – Loose Ends Festival
Wed. Aug. 27 - Sheffield, UK - Don Valley Stadium ^
Fri. Aug. 29 - Dorset, UK - End of the Road Festival
Sat. Aug. 30 - Manchester, UK - Psych Fest
Sat. Sep. 13 - Burton-on-Trent, UK - Sonic Boom Festival

* w/ Omni
^ w/ Queens of the Stone Age

The Bug Club’s Very Human Features includes the only-very-recently mentioned “Appropriate Emotions,” “How to Be a Confidante,” “Jealous Boy,” and ten other excellent songs. It was produced and mixed by Tom Rees at Rat Trap Studios in Cardiff, Wales, and mastered by Mikey Young.

Very Human Features is available to preorder now on CD/LP/all DSPs 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 Purple (NA) or Bio Pink (UK/EU) vinyl (all vinyl color editions whilst stock lasts!).

The Bug Club has seen support from the likes of NME, BBC, KEXP, Bandcamp Daily, Brooklyn Vegan, PASTE, Stereogum, see/saw, Dusted, The Stranger Rosy Overdrive, Glide, and more. NME said of their 2024 release On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System…., “…its 11 songs crackle with incisive melodies and funny pop culture-addled lyrics – they reference The Great Escape’s Virgil Hilts one minute, and move on to the horror of Lonsdale slip on daps the next – but they’re in and out in under 26 minutes. Zero fat.”

The Bug Club
Very Human Features

Tracklisting:
1. Full Grown Man
2. Twirling in the Middle
3. Jealous Boy
4. Young Reader
5. Beep Boop Computers
6. Muck (Very Human Features)
7. When the Little Choo Choo Train
Toots His Little Horn
8. How to Be a Confidante
9. Living in the Future
10. Tales of a Visionary Teller
11. The Sound of Communism
12. Blame Me
13. Appropriate Emotions