The New Pornographers had a rough time last year. In April, Joe Seiders, their drummer of a decade, was arrested for possession of child sex abuse materials. Publicly, the rest of the band handled the controversy with grace: They immediately severed ties with Seiders and laid pretty low for the rest of the year, eventually assuaging fans' worries when they announced that they would be going on a spring tour. And it turns out they'll have some new material to play: The New Pornographers' tenth studio album The Former Site Of is arriving in March, and they're previewing it today with the lead single "Votive."
Frontman A.C. Newman wrote The Former Site Of in his home studio before bringing the material to the rest of the band, which these days includes Kathryn Calder, Neko Case, John Collins, Todd Fancey, and new drummer Charley Drayton, who's worked with artists like the Divinyls and Fiona Apple. (Josh Wells will be their touring drummer this go around.) "Having time in my studio really opened things up," Newman says in a press release. "I don’t like wasting my bandmates’ time, and always felt guilty when I’d give them a song, ask them to do something, then completely change the song and ask them to do it again. Now I can get the skeleton of a song together first — just a couple of elements, the key."
Watch Michael Arthur's video for the slow-building "Votive" below, along with the full The Former Site Of tracklist.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Great Princess Story"
02 "Pure Sticker Shock"
03 "Ballad Of The Last Payphone"
04 "Spooky Action"
05 "Wish You Could See Me I'm Killing It"
06 "Votive"
07 "The Wine Remembers The Water"
08 "Calligraphy"
09 "Bonus Mai Tais"
10 "The Former Site Of"
The Former Site Of is out 3/27 via Merge.
