Today, Ireland’s The Murder Capital confirm a 13-date North American tour in support of their forthcoming album Gigi’s Recovery (January 20th, Human Season Records). The band, whose 2020 tour was cut short by the pandemic after just two sold out shows in NYC and Boston, will return to perform in cities including Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Chicago, Portland, and San Francisco in March and April. Tickets for all dates will go on sale this Friday at 10am Local Time.
The band recently shared “Return My Head,” the last single ahead of their forthcoming second album, as well as an accompanying video directed by the band’s own Gabriel Paschal Blake. The video was debuted by The Fader, who called the song “an instant hit and one sure to become a live favorite.”
“Return My Head” is perhaps the most visceral of the singles released so far, an immediate, direct slice of alt-rock that delivers both aggression and melody paired to a lyrical motif that slots firmly into the sense of reinvention surrounding the album as a whole, opening as it does with the following: “I had to realign, To begin, To survive.” Front man James McGovern explains further on the themes: “Return My Head was written in a place of pure frustration, feeling like our sanity had been unwillingly removed through periods of isolation. All I wanted at this point was to get my head back, and to throw it away again. But on my own terms. ‘Return my head, and throw it to the crowd.’”
The John Congleton produced Gigi’s Recovery, set for release on January 20th via Human Season Records, follows the Irish band’s celebrated 2019 debut album, When I Have Fears, which reached a #2 position in their native Ireland and Top 20 chart position in the UK, and featured in media end of year lists internationally with The Guardian calling it “an outstanding debut from a great new band who play it like they mean it.” The album will be available on CD, in several LP editions.
While the material on When I Have Fears captured the vital beginnings of the group, the 12 songs of Gigi’s Recovery push the band into ever braver sonic territories, oceans apart from previous peers. Ambition is put right at the front and center, with the inventive, expansive guitar work of Cathal Roper and Damien Tuit paired to a precise and intelligent rhythmic unit in bassist Gabriel Paschal Blake and drummer Diarmuid Brennan. Electronic elements are noticeably more prominent across the record, with industrial influences explored in greater detail than ever before, James McGovern’s bold melodies acting as a reassuring anchor so we never get totally swept away into the band’s new found soundscape.
The Murder Capital also made their live return this year performing at the likes of Primavera Sound, VYV Festival and Solidays, as well as opening for Pearl Jam at British Summer Time. The performances follow their largely sold-out EU / UK tours in 2020, which saw them sell out their biggest headline show to date at London’s Electric Ballroom.
The Murder Capital Tour Dates
Fri, March 24 Washington, DC DC9 Nightclub
Sat, March 25 Philadelphia, PA First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia
Sun, March 26 Albany, NY Empire Underground
Tue, March 28 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
Thu, March 30 Cambridge, MA The Sinclair
Sat, April 1 Toronto, ON Horseshoe Tavern
Mon, April 3 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall
Tue, April 4 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry
Fri, April 7 Denver, CO Lost Lake
Sat, April 8 Salt Lake City, UT Kilby Court
Mon, April 10 Seattle, WA The Vera Project
Tue, April 11 Portland, OR Mission Theater
Thu, April 13 San Francisco, CA The Chapel
The Murder Capital Gigi’s Recovery Track Listing
1 Existence
2 Crying
3 Return My Head
4 Ethel
5 The Stars Will Leave Their Stage
6 Belonging
7 The Lie Becomes the Self
8 A Thousand Lives
9 We Had to Disappear
10 Only Good Things
11 Gigi’s Recovery
12 Exist
