This Friday, Dan Snaith, aka Caribou, releases his first album in six years, Suddenly, via Merge Records. In support of the new LP, Caribou tours across North America next month, followed by dates in Europe and eventually back to the States for Coachella 2020.
Suddenly comes after a stream of well-received singles, "Home", "You and I", and "Never Come Back". Each single reintroduces listeners to the melodic, soothing music Caribou is known and loved for. Playable on the dancefloor or while lounging at home, it's a record that enjoins repeated listens in all sorts of settings.
Suddenly is the most surprising and unpredictable Caribou album to date. Though it retains the trademark Caribou warmth and technicolor, this album is littered with swerves and left turns. Songs drop out and morph into something else entirely just as they're hitting their stride, samples chopped up beyond all recognition burst out of nowhere. "You and I" starts as a dreamy, undeniably Caribou-esque love song before breaking down into a huge chorus peppered with sampled yelps, and finally going completely rogue with a screaming guitar solo, which swaggers into being from nowhere.
In 2014, Dan Snaith, aka Caribou, released Our Love to overwhelming critical acclaim, a Polaris Prize nomination, and year-end recognition from Rolling Stone, Consequence of Sound, and Pitchfork, who recently declared the album one of the best of the 2010s. Now, Caribou returns with his seventh studio album, Suddenly, an album about family and the changes we go through as those relationships evolve. Our Love provided an open-armed exploration of the concept of love in its grandest form, both as an expression of gratitude to his fans and as an examination of that one thing that matters most in life. Suddenly, however, takes that concept and winnows it down, directly applying it to real life and the people to whom that love means the most. Suddenly refers to the moments of dramatic and unexpected change that occur at points in any life and within any family - universal themes that catch you off guard and change your life in a heartbeat.
As with previous Caribou albums, Suddenly was mined from hundreds of draft ideas (this time over 900). "I record music every day, and I love it - as much or more than I have always done. I feel very lucky - the thrill has never, ever left me," Snaith says.
There is a moment where the daunting piling up of rough ideas morphs into an album quickly taking shape. "For the last few albums at least, there's been a point about three-quarters of the way through where I work late into the night (as usual), but when I try and go to bed, ideas keep forcing me to get up and go back to the studio again," Snaith recalls. "It happens over and over in one night. I can feel the gears whirring as I lie there trying to sleep, and I can't ignore the ideas for fear that it will be gone when I wake up the next morning."
So for all the strings Snaith has to his bow these days, this is the drive to continue to make Caribou albums. Full bodies of work where Snaith is able to evaluate things, look at those around him, and celebrate them. As his passion and joy in music-making remains as fresh as ever, Suddenly is the purest example of this yet.
16 Mar - Hamilton, ON @The Studio SOLD OUT
17 Mar - Toronto, ON @ Danforth SOLD OUT
18 Mar - Toronto, ON @ Danforth SOLD OUT
19 Mar - Toronto, ON @ Danforth
20 Mar - Chicago, IL @ Riviera
21 Mar - Detroit, MI @ Saint Andrews Hall
22 Mar - Ottawa, ON @ Bronson Centre SOLD OUT
23 Mar - Montreal, QC @ M Telus
24 Mar - Boston, MA @ House of Blues
25 Mar - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
26 Mar - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club (Early show)
27 Mar - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel SOLD OUT
28 Mar - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel (Early show)
28 Mar - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel SOLD OUT
11 Apr - Indio, CA @ Coachella
13 Apr - Austin, TX @ Emo's
14 Apr - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
15 Apr - Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
18 Apr - Indio, CA @ Coachella
01 May - Miami, FL @ III Points
02 May - Miami, FL @ III Points
02 Aug - Montreal, QC @ Osheaga Festival
30 Mar - Brighton @ The Dome
01 Apr - Liverpool @ Invisible Wind Factory
02 Apr - Leeds @ O2 Academy Leeds
03 Apr - Manchester @ O2 Victoria Warehouse
04 Apr - Glasgow @ The Barrowlands SOLD OUT
05 Apr - Birmingham @ O2 Academy Birmingham
06 Apr - Bristol @ O2 Academy Bristol
07 Apr - London @ O2 Academy Brixton SOLD OUT
23 May - London @ All Points East
21 Apr - Hamburg, DE @ Grosse Freiheit 36
23 Apr - Prague, CZ @ Forum Karlin
24 Apr - Vienna, AT @ Gasometer
25 Apr - Munich, DE @ Muffathalle
26 Apr - Zurich, CH @ Kaufleuten
27 Apr - Paris, FR @ L'Olympia
28 Apr - Cologne, DE @ E-werk
29 Apr - Utrecht, NL @ Tivoli Vredenburg / Ronda
30 Apr - Brussels, BE @ Les Nuits Botanique / Chapiteau - Botanique
25 Jun - Rome, IT @ Roma Summer Fest
09 Jul - Bilbao, ES @ Bilbao BBK Live
10 Jul - Lisbon, PT @ NOS Alive
11 Jul - Dublin, IE @ Iveagh Gardens
12 Aug - Vilnius, LT @ Botanical Garden
15 Aug - Berlin, DE @ Zitadelle / Caribou and Friends
16 Aug - Kiev, UA @ Art-Zavod Platforma
Photo Credit: Thomas Neukum
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