Multiple-Choice Question: what would you do if you found a synth in a garage sale for the ridiculously low price of, say, $1, but the owner sells it to you with the warning that “it doesn’t work, man, it’s just for parts.” Then you take this thing home and tinker with it for a few days, soldering here, reassembling there, then you go plug it in and — lo and behold — it’s working again. Shooting beams of psychedelic lightning all over the place.
Would you:
(a) Fist pump the air and then play “Chopsticks” to your little brother.
(b) Preemptively say, “I probably wouldn’t have been able to get it working because I suck at that stuff, therefore I can’t even fathom this hypothetical situation.”
(c) View it is a subversive treatise and commencing honing new sounds for a new album.
We can confirm that Ruben Nielson of Unknown Mortal Orchestra has responded to our conveniently specific quiz and answered a most definite (c). Going one better, he’s now announced the album to prove it. It’s called Multi-Love, it will be released by Jagjaguwar on May 26, and it will feature synths, not necessarily salvaged from garage sales, but reconditioned by the band nonetheless.
Promising more than just Frankensteined synths, we are told to expect the unexpected to be thrown into Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s already multifaceted guitar pop gems. The lead + title track is below. Additionally, US and UK tour dates have been announced and are on sale; purchase tickets here.
Multi-Love tracklisting:
01. Multi-Love
02. Like Acid Rain
03. Ur Life One Night
04. Can’t Keep Checking My Phone
05. Extreme Wealth and Casual Cruelty
06. The World Is Crowded
07. Stage or Screen
08. Necessary Evil
09. Puzzles
Dates:
05.07.15 - Eugene, OR - WOW Hall
05.09.15 - Seattle, WA - Barboza
05.10.15 - Spokane, WA - The Bartlett
05.20.15 - Bristol, UK - Thekla
05.21.15 - London, UK - Islington Assembly Hall
05.22.15 - Coventry, UK - Warwick University
05.23.15 - Liverpool, UK - Liverpool Sound City
05.25.15 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Bitterzoet
05.26.15 - Berlin, Germany - Berghain Kantine
05.27.15 - Brussels, Belgium - AB Club
05.28.15 - Paris, France - La Flèche d’Or
05.29-31.15 - Nîmes, France - This is Not a Love Song Festival
05.30.15 - Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Sound
06.02.15 - Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall
06.03.15 - Montreal, QC - Theatre Fairmount
06.04.15 - Toronto, ON - Lee’s Palace
06.05.15 - Pontiac, MI - Pike Room
06.06.15 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
06.08.15 - Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club
06.09.15 - Omaha, NE - Waiting Room
06.10.15 - St. Louis, MO - Firebird
06.11-14.15 - Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo
06.13.15 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West
06.14.15 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle
06.15.15 - Washington, DC - U Street Music Hall
06.16.15 - Philadelphia, PA - Boot & Saddle
06.17.15 - Philadelphia, PA - Boot & Saddle
06.19.15 - Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw
• Unknown Mortal Orchestra: http://unknownmortalorchestra.com
• Jagjaguwar: http://www.jagjaguwar.com
[Photo: Dusdin Condren]