Guster has announced their new album ‘Look Alive,’ out January 18, 2019, on Nettwerk/Ocho Mule. The 9-song collection – the band’s first new album in four years – was produced by Leo Abrahams (Regina Spektor, Brian Eno/David Byrne, Belle and Sebastian) and recorded in a vintage keyboard museum in Calgary, AB, with additional sessions helmed by John Congleton (St. Vincent, Alvvays) and Collin DuPuis (Angel Olsen, Lana Del Rey). It captures the group – Adam Gardner, Ryan Miller, Luke Reynolds, and Brian Rosenworcel – at an inspired moment, creating the most layered, moody and brilliantly unpredictable music of their storied career.
To accompany the announcement, the band has released title track “Look Alive,” which NPR Music dubbed “one of Guster’s most musically sparkling pop songs,” calling the track, “moody and warm,” saying it “slithers with colorful, sinewy synths.” Listen to “Look Alive” here: https://youtu.be/fctmdYiu9wg
Perhaps it was the 30 degree below zero weather that inspired Abrahams to encourage Guster to embrace “cold sounds” during the making of ‘Look Alive.’ The album’s title track opens with a stark, haunting synth refrain and veers in unexpected directions from there. “Despite having access to room after room of well-maintained analog keys, Leo gravitated to a cheap Ensoniq Mirage synth from the 1980’s,” recalls Rosenworcel. “It was the beginning of a stylistic clash that played out beautifully.”
The announcement of ‘Look Alive’ follows two new songs, “Hard Times” and “Don’t Go,” which the band premiered as a treat for fans at their annual Guster on the Ocean festival in August. “Hard Times” earned praise from Billboard and organically gained momentum at radio, with KCRW saying it “reminded [them] of Guster’s greatness.”
Guster’s 2015 album “Evermotion” (Nettwerk/Ocho Mule) debuted at #1 on the Independent Record Label Current Albums chart, and earned accolades from the New Yorker and Vice Noisey, who praised the record for its “dark edge [and] brooding sense of romance.”
Guster has also announced a North American tour that includes a return to NYC’s Beacon Theater and a stop at Boston’s House of Blues for the 4th Annual Guster Day in the city of Boston, plus special multi-night stands in Washington, DC and San Francisco, CA. Tickets for Guster’s 2019 tour dates are on sale Friday, November 2nd at 12 PM local time, with a special fan presale on Wednesday, October 31st at 12 PM local time. Full tour routing below.
‘Look Alive’ is now available for preorder (purchase links below).
GUSTER 2018 TOUR DATES
11/1 Jersey City, NJ @ White Eagle Hall (SOLD OUT) %
11/2 Baltimore, MD @ Ram’s Head Live %
11/3 Charlottesville, VA @ Jefferson Theater %
11/5 Saxaphaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom %
11/6 Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel %
11/9 Birmingham, AL @ Saturn %
11/10 Louisville, KY @ Headliner’s Music Hall %
11/11 St. Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall (SOLD OUT) –
11/13 Madison, WI @ The Sylvee –
11/14 Indianapolis, IN @ The Vogue –
11/15 Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre –
11/16 Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre
11/17 Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
‘LOOK ALIVE’ 2019 TOUR
1/16 Clifton Park, NY @ Upstate Concert Hall *
1/17 Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore Philadelphia *
1/19 Boston, MA @ House of Blues *
1/21 Montreal, QC @ Theatre Fairmount *
1/22 Toronto, ONT @ The Mod Club *
1/23 Rochester, NY @Anthology *
1/25 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club *
1/26 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club *
1/30 San Fran, CA @ Bimbo’s *
1/31 San Fran, CA @ Bimbo’s *
2/1 San Fran, CA @ Bimbo’s *
2/2 Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory *
24 Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
2/6 Estes, CO @ The Stanley Hotel *
2/7 Denver, CO @ The Ogden Theatre *
2/8 Omaha, NE @ Holland Performing Arts Center w/ Omaha Symphony
2/9 Minneapolis, MN @ First Ave *
2/11 Missoula, MT @ Top Hat Lounge *
2/12 Spokane, WA @ The Bing Crosby Theatre *
2/14 Portland, OR @ The Wonder Ballroom *
2/15 Vancouver, BC @ Imperial *
2/16 Seattle, WA @ The Showbox *
3/14 Providence, RI @ The Strand $
3/15 Portsmouth, NH @ The Music Hall $
3/16 New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre +
3/27 Houston, TX @ The Heights Theater ^
3/28 Austin, TX Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater^
3/29 Dallas, TX @ House of Blues ^
3/30 New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues ^
4/4 Nashville, TN @ Cannery Ballroom ^
4/5 Atlanta, GA @ The Tabernacle ^
4/6 Orlando, FL @ The Beachum ^
4/7 Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ The Culture Room ^
4/9 Charlotte, NC @ Neighborhood Theatre ^
4/11 Covington, KY @ Madison Theater ^
4/12 Grand Rapids, MI @ The Intersection ^
4/13 Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre ^
% with Zac Clack
– with Andrew Duhon
* with Henry Jamison
$ with Tall Heights
+ with Nada Surf
^ with Saintseneca
