Interpol broke the news of their seventh album back in September, and today they've officially announced it. It's called The Other Side of Make-Believe and it arrives July 15 via Matador. As we knew, they made it with famed producers Flood (Mark Ellis) and Alan Moulder, and the first single is "Toni," which finds Interpol staying true to the distinct sound they've been building for 20 years.
The new song comes with a video directed by Van Alpert, who says, "I wrote a crazy idea that I felt was new for Interpol, a hyper-modern, cinematic dance film. A ‘Lovers on the Run’ story, with a classic cliff-hanger ending. Dream job working for my all-time favorite band! Paul Banks ties everything together and elevated the concept, because he's naturally a great actor, artist, and collaborator."
Paul adds, "It was a blast working with Van Alpert on the video for our song 'Toni.' We bonded over shared film inspiration as well as a passion for classic music videos by the likes of Glazer, Cunningham, and Jonze. Van, in my opinion, is in the club with these legends; and it's exciting to watch him build his own enduring body of work."
Here's some more background on the album, via the band's new Gabriel Szatan-penned bio:
“The nobility of the human spirit is to rebound,” [Paul Banks] says. “Yeah, I could focus on how fucked everything is, but I feel now is the time when being hopeful is necessary, and a still-believable emotion within what makes Interpol Interpol.” Kessler concurs: “The process of writing this record and searching for tender, resonant emotions took me back to teenage years; it was transformative, almost euphoric. I felt a rare sensation of purpose biting on the end of my fishing rod and I was compelled to reel it in.”
Even with spare piano caressing the intro of "Something Changed," open-hearted cyclical chord progressions on "Passenger," or anthemic waves of Kessler’s cresting guitar on "Big Shot City," it doesn’t mean Interpol are entirely stopping to smell the roses, though. 'The Other Side of Make-Believe'’s title, cover and a frequent lyrical lean toward fables, smokescreens and the mutability of truth reflect Banks’ disgust with the curdling of the information age. “I feel like the slipperiness of reality, and being willing to get violent on the basis of a factual disagreement, has had a super strenuous effect on the psyche of everyone in the world. Although,” he laughs, “I was talking about it so often that it kind of spooked my bandmates, so I found a way to express my concerns more through the lens of human beings' non-rational faculties, and less civilizational collapse.”
Watch the video below.
As previously mentioned, Interpol have an upcoming tour with Tycho and Matthew Dear that includes two hometown shows at Brooklyn's Kings Theatre on May 14 and 15. They also have a summer tour with Spoon and The Goon Sax that hits Asbury Park's Stone Pony Summer Stage on August 25. All dates are listed below.
In other news, former bassist Carlos D is releasing a new age album.
Tracklist
1. Toni
2. Fables
3. Into The Night
4. Mr Credit
5. Something Changed
6. Renegade Hearts
7. Passenger
8. Greenwich
9. Gran Hotel
10. Big Shot City
11. Go Easy (Palermo)
Interpol -- 2022 Tour Dates
Monday, April 25 – Dallas, TX @ The Factory in Deep Ellum*
Tuesday, April 26 – Austin, TX @ ACL Live at the Moody Theater* SOLD OUT
Thursday, April 28 – Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre*
Friday, April 29 – San Diego, CA @ Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre* SOLD OUT
Saturday, April 30 – Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre*
Monday, May 2 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union *
Tuesday, May 3 – Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom **
Thursday, May 5 – St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre*
Friday, May 6 – Chicago, IL @ Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom*
Saturday, May 7 – Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore Detroit*
Sunday, May 8 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre*
Tuesday, May 10 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem*
Wednesday, May 11 – Boston, MA @ Roadrunner*
Friday, May 13 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia*
Saturday, May 14 – Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre* SOLD OUT
Sunday, May 15 – Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre*
Saturday, May 21 – Los Angeles, CA @ Rose Bowl, Pasadena – Just Like Heaven***
Saturday, May 28 – Mexico City, MEX @ Palacio De Los Deportes****
Wednesday, June 8 – Barcelona, Spain @ Sala Apolo
Thursday, June 9 – Barcelona, Spain @ Primavera Sound
6.11 – Porto, Portugal @ Primavera Sound
6.12 – Berlin, Germany @ Templehof Sounds Festival
6.14 – London, UK @ The Roundhouse SOLD OUT
6.15 – London, UK @ The Roundhouse
6.16 – Brussels, Belgium @ Ancienne Belgique SOLD OUT
6.18 – Paris, France @ Salle Pleyel SOLD OUT
6.19 – Landgraaf, Netherlands @ Pinkpop Festival
Thursday, August 25 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Stone Pony Summer Stage ^
Friday, August 26 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage #
Saturday, August 27 – Portland, ME @ Thompson’s Point ^
Sunday, August 28 – Providence, RI @ Bold Point Pavilion ^
Tuesday, August 30 – Columbus, OH @ KEMBA Live! Outdoor ^
Thursday, September 1 – Cincinnati, OH @ Andrew J. Brady Music Center ^
Friday, September 2 – Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern %
Saturday, September 3 – Asheville, NC @ Rabbit Rabbit ^
Tuesday, September 6 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE Outdoors ^
Thursday, September 8 – Indianapolis, IN @ TCU Amphitheater at White River Park ^
Friday, September 9 – St. Louis, MO @ Stifel Theatre ^
Saturday, September 10 – Oklahoma City, OK @ The Criterion ^
Tuesday, September 13 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas ^
Wednesday, September 14 – Paso Robles, CA @ Vina Robles Amphitheatre ^
Friday, September 16 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre ^
Saturday, September 17 – Portland, OR @ Pioneer Courthouse Square ^
Sunday, September 18 – Portland, OR @ Pioneer Courthouse Square ^
*plus TYCHO and Matthew Dear
** Matthew Dear
***plus The Shins, Modest Mouse, M.I.A and more
****plus Dry Cleaning
^ Spoon + The Goon Sax
# Metric, Interpol, Spoon