Yo La Tengo have announced the release of their sixteenth album, This Stupid World, and it will be out on February 10th via Matador Records.
Yo La Tengo have raced time for nearly four decades and, to my ears, they just keep winning. The trio’s latest victory is called This Stupid World, a spellbinding set of reflective songs that resist the ticking clock. This music is not so much timeless as time-defiant. “I want to fall out of time,” Ira Kaplan sings in the new single “Fallout.” “Reach back, unwind.”
Listen to “Fallout” below:
Part of how Kaplan, Georgia Hubley, and James McNew escape time is by watching it pass, even accepting it when they must. “I see clearly how it ends / I see the moon rise as the sun descends,” they sing during opener “Sinatra Drive Breakdown.” In the séance-like “Until it Happens,” Kaplan plainly intones, “Prepare to die / Prepare yourself while there’s still time.” But This Stupid World is also filled with calls to reject time – bide it, ignore it, waste it. “Stay alive,” he adds later in the same song. “Look away from the hands of time.”
This Stupid World artwork & tracklist:
1. Sinatra Drive Breakdown
2. Fallout
3. Tonight’s Episode
4. Aselestine
5. Until It Happens
6. Apology Letter
7. Brain Capers
8. This Stupid World
9. Miles Away
In December, the band will host their annual eight-night Hanukkah concert series in Manhattan’s Bowery Ballroom. Early next year, Yo La Tengo will hit the road on a wide-ranging tour of the US, UK, and Europe, including a date at The London Palladium on April 14th. Find a complete itinerary below.
YO LA TENGO – HANUKKAH 2022
Sun, Dec 18 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom – SOLD OUT
Mon, Dec 19 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom – SOLD OUT
Tue, Dec 20 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom – SOLD OUT
Wed, Dec 21 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom – SOLD OUT
Thu, Dec 22 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom – SOLD OUT
Fri, Dec 23 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom – SOLD OUT
Sat, Dec 24 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
Sun, Dec 25 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
YO LA TENGO ON TOUR
Wed, Feb 15 – Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre
Thu, Feb 16 – Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre
Fri, Feb 17 – Bellingham, WA – Wild Buffalo
Sun, Feb 19 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
Mon, Feb 20 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
Wed, Feb 22 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
Fri, Feb 24 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
Sat, Feb 25 – Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom
Sun, Feb 26 – Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom
Mon, Feb 27 – Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom
Thu, Mar 9 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
Fri, Mar 10 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
Sat, Mar 11 – Asheville, NC – Orange Peel
Mon, Mar 13 – Nashville, TN – The Basement East
Tue, Mar 14 – Nashville, TN – The Basement East
Thu, Mar 16 – Charlottesville, VA – Jefferson Theater
Fri, Mar 17 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
Sat, Mar 18 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Steel
Sun, Mar 19 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
Tue, Mar 21 – Pittsburgh, PA – Mr Smalls
Wed, Mar 22 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
Fri, Mar 24 – Chicago, IL – Metro
Sat, Mar 25 – Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall Ballroom
Sun, Mar 26 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
Mon, Apr 10 – Dublin, IE – 3Olympia
Wed, Apr 12 – Manchester, UK – New Century Hall
Thu, Apr 13 – Bristol, UK – SWX
Fri, Apr 14 – London, UK – The London Palladium
Sun, Apr 16 – Brussels, BE – Ancienne Belgique
Tue, Apr 18 – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso
Wed, Apr 19 – Rotterdam, NL – LantarenVenster
Thu, Apr 20 – Hamburg, DE – Uebel & Gefaehrlich
Fri, Apr 21 – Copenhagen, DK – Bremen Teater
Sun, Apr 23 – Cologne, DE – Gloria Theatre
Mon, Apr 24 Prague, Czech Republic – MEETFACTORY
Tue, Apr 25 – Berlin, DE – Festaal Kreuzberg
Thu, Apr 27 – Paris, FR – La Cigale
Sat, Apr 29 – Barcelona, ES – Sala Apolo
Sun, Apr 30 – Murcia, ES – WARM UP Festival
Tue, May 2 – Madrid, ES – Warner Music the Music Station Príncipe Pío
Wed, May 3 – Bilbao, ES – Santana 27