Beloved rock band Sunflower Bean return reinvigorated with the most hard-fought and vulnerable album of their career: Mortal Primetime.
In the three years since their last LP Headful of Sugar, the members of Sunflower Bean drifted from one another as they pursued new projects and confronted personal challenges, tragedies and transformations. But Mortal Primetime – the band’s fourth album, but first self-produced – finds Sunflower Bean with a renewed sense of purpose after nearly losing everything they built together.
“You get to decide what your prime is, and you fight for it,” bassist and vocalist Julia Cumming says. “This is ours, and that can’t be taken away by circumstance. We can’t take it away from each other. This moment, where we are now, is what we’ve always fought for.”
With mixing by Caesar Edmunds (The Killers, Wet Leg) and engineering by Sarah Tudzin (Illuminati Hotties, Boygenius), Sunflower Bean were inspired by alternative rock, dreamy psychedelia, and arena-sized ambition to create a sound that’s undeniably theirs on Mortal Primetime; a record that celebrates their history while hurtling toward the future.
The first single off of Mortal Primetime is “Champagne Taste,” a fuzzed-out anthem of reckless determination. A nod to Sunflower Bean’s long-time alias when performing secret shows to test out new material, “Champagne Taste” features feral guitar riffs, soaring power chords and vocals that find Cumming channelling Iggy Pop circa The Idiot. The band explains, “This song came after a period that felt like rock bottom for the band. It is about feeling beaten down but still driving forward, to keep faith, to grow and to continue to create on our own terms, our Mortal Primetime.”
Watch the Isaac Roberts-directed music video for “Champagne Taste” – BELOW:
Sunflower Bean is known for their blistering live show, which has graced the stages of countless festivals like Glastonbury and Lollapalooza, to tours with Beck, Interpol, and The Pixies, and sold-out international headline shows. So the band is wasting no time in celebrating Mortal Primetime on the road, and announce a massive North American tour. This follows on from their UK/EU tour supporting Cage The Elephant, as well as a special intimate headline show at The George Tavern in London on February 27th. See below to find a show near you and get your tickets HERE when the general on-sale starts Friday at 10 am locally.
Tour dates (UK in bold):
13/2 – Glasgow, UK – O2 Academy Glasgow ^
14/2 – Manchester, UK – O2 Apollo ^
16/2 – Wolverhampton, UK – Uni of Wolverhampton at The Civic Hall ^
17/2 – London, UK – O2 Academy Brixton ^
18/2 – London, UK – O2 Academy Brixton ^
20/2 – Cologne, DE – Palladium ^
21/2 – Berlin, DE – Columbiahalle ^
23/2 – Amsterdam, NL – AFAS Live ^
24/2 – Brussels, BE – Ancienne Belgique ^
26/2 – Paris, FR – Zenith ^
27/2 – London, UK – The George Tavern
11/3 – 15/3 – Austin, TX – SXSW
15/5 – Troy, NY – No Fun
16/5 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brendas
17/5 – Boston, MA – Deep Cuts
22/5 – Brooklyn, NY – Warsaw
23/5 – Washington, DC -The Atlantis
24/5 – Raleigh, NC – Kings
25/5 – Asheville, NC – Eulogy
27/5 – Nashville, TN – Third Man Records
28/5 – Atlanta, GA – The Earl
30/5 – Denton, TX – Rubber Gloves
31/5 – Austin, TX – The Ballroom
1/6 – Houston, TX – White Oak Upstairs
4/6 – Phoenix, AZ – Valley Bar
5/6 – San Diego, CA – The Casbah
6/6 – Los Angeles, CA – Lodge Room
7/6 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
9/6 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
10/6 – Seattle, WA – Madame Lou’s
12/6 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court
13/6 – Fort Collins, CO – The Coast
14/6 – Denver, CO – Hi-Dive
17/6 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th St. Entry
19/6 – Chicago, IL – Sleeping Village
20/6 – Detroit, MI – Third Man Records
21/6 – Toronto, ON – The Garrison
^ with Cage The Elephant
Track Listing:
1. Champagne Taste
2. Nothing Romantic
3. Waiting For The Rain
4. Look What You’ve Done To Me
5. I Knew Love
6. Take Out Your Insides
7. There’s A Part I Can’t Get Back
8. Please Rewind
9. Shooting Star
10. Sunshine
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