Airick Woodhead follows 2013’s impressive debut Lesser Evil with a head-spinning sensory overload.
The DJ, producer and performer who emerged from the same Montreal scene that birthed the likes of Grimes and Majical Cloudz has now evolved the Doldrums project into a full live band.
Using samplers and DJ gear in place of guitars and drums, the expanded Doldrums have come up with a hyper-detailed prog-dance-pop odyssey inspired by Henry Miller’s The Air Conditioned Nightmare, a book of essays despairing at “the divorce between man and nature” the writer saw after his repatriation to the US in 1945. Basically, it’s not a record that’s short on ambition.
“Conflict is at the heart of this album,” says Airick. “There’s a lot of paranoid sentiment and dystopian imagery in there. The threat of a mundane reality ties it together, as does an obsession with plasticity.”
Stream the album in full below ahead of its release on Sub Pop on April 6.
Doldrums are also heading out on a frighteningly huge global tour, starting in Montreal on April 9 and heading across the US before dashing over to Europe in May and June. Check out all the live dates below the album stream.
Tour dates:
Apr. 09 – Montreal, QC – Bar Le Ritz
Apr. 15 – Boston, MA – Great Scott*
Apr. 16 – Philadelphia, PA – Barbary*
Apr. 17 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge*
Apr. 18 – Brooklyn, NY – Baby’s All Right*
Apr. 19 – Washington, DC – DC9*
Apr. 21 – Atlanta, GA – Aisle 5*
Apr. 24 – Houston, TX – Fitzgerald’s*
Apr. 30 – Los Angeles, CA – Echo*
May 02 – San Francisco, CA – Rickshaw Stop*
May 04 – Seattle, WA – The Sunset*
May 05 – Portland, OR – Holocene*
May 08 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry*
May 09 – Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle*
May 15 – Copenhagen, DK – Pop Revo Festival, Atlas
May 16 – Rome, IT – Spring Attitude Festival
May 19 – Lille, FR – La Peniche
May 20 – London, UK – Electrowerkz (Tickets)
May 21 – Dublin, IE – Hidden Agenda @ Whelans (Tickets)
May 22 – Bristol, UK – The Louisiana (Tickets)
May 23 – Manchester, UK – Soup Kitchen (Tickets)
May 24 – Glasgow, UK – Stereo (Tickets)
May 26 – Brighton, UK – The Hope (Tickets)
May 27 – Bruges, BE Cactus
May 28 – Amsterdam, NL – OT301
May 29 – Paris, FR – Le Pop Up Du Label
May 30 – Bordeaux, FR – Iboat
Jun. 02 – Cologne, DE – Studio 672
Jun. 03 – Hamburg, DE – Volt
Jun. 04 – Berlin, DE – Privatclub
* w/ Moon King
