Ezra Furman has announced a new album, Twelve Nudes. Serving as the follow-up to last year’s Transangelic Exodus, the 11-track effort is due out August 30th Via Bella Union.
Described in a press release as Furman’s “‘spiritually queer’ punk record,” Twelve Nudes was recorded in Oakland during the fall of 2018. With Jay Reatard and philosopher Anne Carson as his spiritual guides, Furman sought to confront his pent-up rage at the misbalanced state of culture and politics.
To that end, he’s offered “Calm Down” (aka “I Should Not Be Alone”) as the lead single. Accompanied by a vibrant, frantic animated video directed by Beth Jeans Houghton, the track is a furious plea for internal mollification in the face of external madness. Said Furman of the song in a press release,
“Desperate times make for desperate songs. I wrote this in the summer of 2018, a terrible time. It’s the sound of me struggling to admit that I’m not okay with the current state of human civilization, in which bad men crush us into submission. Once you admit how bad it feels to live in a broken society, you can start to resist it, and imagine a better one.”
Take a listen via the clip below.
Pre-orders for Twelve Nudes are now live. The tracklist and album art are below, followed by Furman’s newly announced North American tour dates. Check for tickets here.
Twelve Nudes Artwork:
Twelve Nudes Tracklist:
01. Calm Down aka I Should Not Be Alone
02. Evening Prayer aka Justice
03. Transition From Nowhere to Nowhere
04. Rated R Crusaders
05. Trauma
06. Thermometer
07. I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend
08. Blown
09. My Teeth Hurt
10. In America
11. What Can You Do But Rock n Roll
Ezra Furman 2019 Tour Dates:
05/28 – Hay on Wye, UK @ Hay Festival
05/29 – Norwich, UK @ Waterfront
05/30 – Sheffield, UK @ Foundry
06/02 – London, UK @ All Points East Festival
07/21 – Benicassim, ES @ Benicassim Festival
07/23 – Cork, IE @ Cyprus Avenue
07/24 – Dublin, IE @ Button Factory
07/25 – Galway, IE @ Galway Festival
07/28 – Topcliffe, UK @ Deer Shed Festival
09/05 – St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
09/07 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
09/08 – Detroit, MI @ El Club
09/09 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
09/10 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz P.D.B.
09/11 – Cambridge, MA @ Sonia
09/12 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
09/15 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
09/16 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage