Parquet Courts have announced their new album, Sympathy for Life, due out October 22nd via Rough Trade Records. As a preview, the Brooklyn indie rockers unveiled the propulsive lead single, “Walking at a Downtown Pace.” Watch the video below.
The 11-track Sympathy for Life drew inspiration from New York clubs, Primal Scream, and Pink Floyd. Produced with Rodaidh McDonald (The xx, Hot Chip, David Byrne) and John Parish (PJ Harvey, Aldous Harding, Dry Cleaning), the follow-up to 2018’s Wide Awake! aims to get listeners dancing.
“Historically, some amazing rock records have been made from mingling in dance music culture — from Talking Heads to Screamadelica,” said co-frontman Austin Brown in a statement. “Our goal was to bring that into our own music. Each of us, in our personal lives, has been going to more dance parties. Or rather, we were pre-pandemic, which is when this record was made.”
He added, “Most of the songs were created by taking long improvisations and molding them through our own editing. The biggest asset we have as artists is the band. After 10 years together, our greatest instrument is each other. The purest expression of Parquet Courts is when we are improvising.”
Pre-orders for Sympathy for Life are ongoing.
Directed by renowned street photographer Daniel Arnold, the “Walking at a Downtown Pace” video captures the bustle of New York City. “That’s what life can be like here; a world of constant motion surrounds you while you’re just walking toward where you need to be,” co-frontman A Savage explained. “There’s a lot of beauty that can be missed, and it wasn’t until the streets were virtually empty that I did miss it.”
To promote the album, Parquet Courts will drop by The Needle Drop’s Twitch channel tonight (August 18th) at 9:00 p.m. EST. They also announced The Power of Eleven, a series of global events each named after a song on the album and accompanied by a limited edition merch drop. The series launched last week in downtown Manhattan, with subsequent events taking place in Tokyo, London, Paris, Mexico City, and other cities in the US. Learn more here.
Two days before the release of Sympathy for Life, Parquet Courts will give fans the opportunity to hear the entire album through a livestream of 11 videos created by visual artists from around the world. Purchase tickets here.
Fans can also catch Parquet Courts on tour later this year. It includes a date with Portugal. The Man at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado, as well as shows in Baltimore, Asbury Park, and Austin. Snag tickets through Ticketmaster or on the secondary market here.
Sympathy for Life Artwork:
Sympathy for Life Tracklist:
1. Walking at a Downtown Pace
2. Black Widow Spider
3. Marathon of Anger
4. Just Shadows
5. Plant Life
6. Application Apparatus
7. Homo Sapien
8. Sympathy for Life
9. Zoom Out
10. Trullo
11. Pulcinella
