Ryan Patterson used to lead the Louisville punk band Coliseum. When they broke up, he started making stark, arty music under the name Fotocrime. Patterson first went solo with the 2018 album Principle Of Pain, and he recorded 2020’s South Of Heaven with Steve Albini and J. Robbins. That album came out just as the pandemic was hitting, and so Patterson stayed home and put together another album on his own. That album is called Heart Of Crime, and Patterson dropped lead single “Delicate Prey” today.

Heart Of Crime has a few guest musicians, but Patterson wrote, produced, recorded, and mixed it himself, and he played most of the instruments, too. Patterson says that the album is “by far the most direct and personal thing I’ve ever done in that 99% of everything on the recording is me.” First single “Delicate Prey” is an icy continental synthpop banger. Patterson sings his lyrics with a gothy snarl, and he makes sure his keyboards and his drum machines kick hard.

Patterson’s “Delicate Prey” lyrics are suitably bleak shit about humanity ending: “We’re a delicate prey, free from restraint/ It’s been a beautiful race/ To the end of the line, the end of time/ To look death in the face.” In director Katie Lovecraft’s video, Patterson stands in the middle of the woods, making a stark contrast with the younger models elsewhere in the clip. Below, watch the video and check out the Heart Of Crime tracklist and Fotocrime’s forthcoming tour dates.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Heart Of Crime”
02 “Electric Café”
03 “So So Low”
04 “Delicate Prey”
05 “Crystal Caves”
06 “Politi Policia Polizei”
07 “Industry Pig”
08 “Zoë Rising”
09 “Inferno Rebels”
10 “Learn To Love The Lash”
11 “Skinned Alive”

TOUR DATES:
9/03 – Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar % =
9/04 – Indianapolis, IN @ Black Circle % =
9/05 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle % =
10/15 – Seattle, WA @ Bar House +
10/16 – Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Lounge +
10/18 – Sacramento, CA @ Café Colonial +
10/19 – Oakland, CA @ Golden Bull +
10/20 – San Diego, CA @ Kensington Club +
10/21 – Long Beach, CA @ Que Sera +
11/13 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Preserving Underground #
11/14 – Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery #
11/15 – Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie #
11/16 – Brooklyn, NY @ Saint Vitus #
11/17 – Cleveland, OH @ The Foundry #
11/18 – Detroit, MI @ Sanctuary #
12/02 – Birmingham, AL @ Firehouse %
12/03 – Gainesville, FL @ TBA %
12/04 – Tampa, FL @ Hooch And Hive %
12/05 – Orlando, FL @ Will’s Pub %
12/06 – Jacksonville, FL @ Archetype %
12/07 – Atlanta, GA @ Boggs Supply & Social %
12/08 – Charlotte, NC @ Evening Muse %
12/09 – Asheville, NC @ Odditorium %

% with Fool’s Ghost
= with The Austerity Program
+ with Haunted Horses
# with Dälek

Heart Of Crime is out 8/27 on Profound Lore.