The highly anticipated seventh album by U.S. Girls, entitled ‘Heavy Light’, will be released on March 6 via Royal Mountain Records in Canada / worldwide via 4AD/Beggars. While Meg Remy has been widely acclaimed for a panoply of closely observed character studies, on ‘Heavy Light’, she turns inward, recounting personal narratives to create a deeply introspective about-face. The songs are an inquest into the melancholy flavour of hindsight, both personal and cultural. Remy makes this notion formally explicit with the inclusion of three re-worked, previously released songs: Statehouse (It’s A Man’s World), Red Ford Radio, and Overtime. Listen to the lead single, Overtime, which is lifted from ‘Heavy Light’ via YouTube below.
‘Heavy Light’ is the follow-up to 2018’s internationally critically-acclaimed breakout album ‘In A Poem Unlimited’. ‘Heavy Light’ is produced by Remy and was recorded live with 20 session musicians – including E Street Band saxophonist Jake Clemons – in Montreal’s acclaimed Hotel 2 Tango studio.
Remy worked with co-writers Basia Bulat and Rich Morel to develop the core of ‘Heavy Light,’ a set of songs conceived as a balance between orchestral percussion (as richly arranged by percussionist Ed Squires) and the human voice (conducted by Kritty Uranowski). The resulting album finds Remy casting herself as lead voice among a harmonious multitude, the singers of which lend not only their voices, but also share reflections on childhood experiences that are collaged into moving spoken word interludes throughout the album. The album is mixed by long-time collaborators Maximilian ‘Twig’ Turnbull, Steve Chahley and Tony Price.
‘Heavy Light’ track listing
1. 4 American Dollars
2. Overtime
3. IOU
4. Advice To Teenage Self
5. State House (It’s A Man’s World)
6. Born To Lose
7. And Yet It Moves / Y Se Mueve
8. The Most Hurtful Thing
9. Denise, Don’t Wait
10. Woodstock ‘99
11. The Color Of Your Childhood Bedroom
12. The Quiver To The Bomb
13. Red Ford Radio
‘Heavy Light’ is released on March 6 digitally, on CD, standard black vinyl and limited white/lavender marble vinyl. UK customers can pre-order Heavy Light via 4AD, or sign up for early pre-sale access to the U.S. Girls Queen Elizabeth Hall, London show. For further details head here.
Over 14 months touring ‘Poem’ including performances at Coachella, Osheaga, and Gov Ball, U.S. Girls was presented live as an eight-piece band who incinerated stages with an anachronistic blend of politicized disco pop and aggressive, theatrical improvisation. Now, U.S. Girls announces a 27-date North American spring tour kicking off in Detroit in April. Ahead of the album’s release, the group performed special underplays in NYC, Toronto (which SOLD OUT ahead of the show) and Montreal. Full list of remaining tour dates below.
U.S. Girls 2020 tour dates
4/4 – DETROIT, MI @ MOCAD
4/5 – CHICAGO, IL @ Lincoln Hall
4/6 – MADISON, WI @ Majestic Theatre
4/7 – MINNEAPOLIS, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center
4/9 – OMAHA, NE @ Slowdown
4/10 – KANSAS CITY, MO @ Record Bar
4/12 – DENVER, CO @ Bluebird Theatre
4/13 – SALT LAKE CITY, UT @ Metro Music Hall
4/16 – VANCOUVER, BC @ Imperial
4/14 – BOISE, ID @ The Olympic
4/17 – SEATTLE, WA @ Crocodile
4/18 – PORTLAND, OR @ Mississippi Studios
4/20 – SAN FRANCISCO, CA @ The Independent
4/21 – SAN JOSE, CA @ The Ritz
4/22 – LOS ANGELES, CA @ Masonic Lodge Hollywood Forever
4/24 – PHOENIX, AZ @ Valley Bar
4/25 – TUCSON, AZ @ 191 Toole
4/27 – AUSTIN, TX @ Antone’s
4/28 – DALLAS, TX @ Club Dada
4/29 – HOUSTON, TX @ Continental Club
5/1 – MEMPHIS, TN @ The Greenroom at Crosstown Arts
5/2 – NASHVILLE, TN @ Exit/In
5/3 – ASHEVILLE, NC @ Grey Eagle
5/5 – WASHINGTON, DC @ U Street
5/6 – BROOKLYN, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
5/7 – BOSTON, MA @ Sinclair
5/8 – PHILADELPHIA, PA @ World Cafe Live
10/14 – LONDON, UK @ Queen Elizabeth Hall
