Algiers have released their new single,”Cleveland,” taken from their forthcoming second album, The Underside Of Power, out June 23rd on Matador Records.
As a reference and tribute to Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old black boy who was shot and killed by police in November 2014 in Cleveland, OH, “Cleveland” is a gripping gospel, Detroit techno, and punk-fueled call to arms that manages to be both menacing and life affirming all at once.
“A recurring theme in our music is the idea of injustice and the bitter understanding that obtaining justice in this world is all but impossible–particularly for black and brown people,” says frontman and lyricist Franklin James Fisher. “I wanted the song to sound like the Final Judgement in the Bible, wherein the wicked are judged and condemned by the righteous with all the ‘weeping and gnashing of teeth,’ of the damned when justice is finally realized. This translates in the ‘solo’ section of the song. It consists of various recordings of people inconsolably crying and weeping while the guitar and lead vocal mirror their contortions. If you’ve ever witnessed something like that in real life, sound of a person’s sorrow is equal parts frightening and musical.”
While the song title invokes Tamir Rice, the lyrics summon Kindra Chapman, Andre Jones, Lennon Lacy, Sandra Bland, Roosevelt Pernell, Keith Warren and Alfred Wright, similarly victims of state sanctioned violence. It also makes a link with theorist Walter Benjamin’s work on divine violence, placing justice against the law, wherein the American legal system is complicit in the murder and enslavement of oppressed people.
Currently bringing their powerful live show to arenas across Europe in support of Depeche Mode throughout June and July, Algiers will continue to their own headline North American dates later in July. Full upcoming dates can be found below.
Already receiving praise from outlets including NPR, The New Yorker, Newsweek, Stereogum, Entertainment Weekly, Salon, Vulture, Alternative Press, Stereogum, and more, The Underside Of Power was recorded largely in Bristol and produced byAdrian Utley (Portishead) and Ali Chant, mixed by Randall Dunn (Sunn O)))), with post-production by Ben Greenberg (Hubble, Uniform).
It sees the transatlantic four piece, based between NYC and London and now counting Bloc Party founding member Matt Tong on drums, delve into political unrest both in the US and UK, touching on oppression, police brutality, dystopia, and hegemonic power structures, via a visceral and incendiary musical palette traversing Northern soul and gospel to IDM, industrial, italo, grime, and musical touchstones such as Suicide, Afrika Bambaata, The Pop Group, Public Enemy and NinaSimone.
Tour Dates:
6/15 – Paris, FR – Secret Show
6/17 – Aarau, CH – Kiff
6/18 – Zurich, CH – Letzigrund Stadion *
6/19 – Heidelberg, DE – Karlstorbahnhof
6/20 – Frankfurt, DE – Commerzbank Arena *
6/21 – Munster, DE – Gleis22
6/22 – Berlin, DE – Olympiastadion Berlin *
6/23 – Berlin, DE – Musik & Freiden
6/25 – Rome, IT – Stadio Olimpico *
6/26 – Milan, IT – Santeria Social Club
6/27 – Milan, IT – Stadio San Siro *
6/29 – Bologna, IT – Studio Rentao Dall’Ara *
7/1 – St. Denis, FR – Stade de France *
7/4 – Gelsenkirchen, DE – Veltins-Arena *
7/13 – Vancouver, BC – Cobalt
7/14 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
7/15 – Seattle, WA – The Crocodile
7/17 – Oakland, CA – Starline Social Club
7/18 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo
7/22 – Brooklyn, NY – Baby’s All Right
7/23 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
7/24 – Washington, DC – Black Cat
10/15 – Atlanta, GA – Afropunk Festival
* denotes w/ Depeche Mode
The Underside Of Power Tracklisting:
- Walk Like A Panther
- Cry Of The Martyrs
- The Underside Of Power
- Death March
- A Murmur. A Sign.
- Mme Rieux
- Cleveland
- Animals
- Plague Years
- A Hymn For An Average Man
- Bury Me Standing
- The Cycle/The Spiral: Time to Go Down Slowly
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