Dust City Opera Release New Album 'Alien Summer'

Today, emerging eclectic sextet Dust City Opera, who entwine strands of grunge, gothic country, punk, folk, and rock as the soundtrack to stories steeped in cosmic horror, transformation, and transcendence, has released their sophomore full-length album, Alien Summer.

The 12-track independent collection features "The Unkind," "Angie," "An Okay Way To Go," "It," "Tile or Linoleum," and "Stars." Coinciding with the album's release, Dust City Opera has issued the official music video for the title track "Alien Summer," directed by Chris Walsh.

"This album has been a long time coming," shares front man and sonic ringmaster Paul Hunton. "The exciting thing to me is to look at all of it within the scope of time it encompasses and see it as a retrospective on the last few years. To come out of it with this-a record of all the chaos and intensity around us. There was a lot of heartache with the personnel stuff, and the lockdown, and our fans really pulled us through and now we're here. We asked for help making this happen and you all came through. From all of us, thank you! Now it's time to see if you got your money's worth!"

Dust City Opera - Paul Hunton [vocals, guitar, songwriter], Clara Byom [clarinet, accordion, keys], Travis Rourk [trombone], Chris Livingston [lead guitar], Scott Brewer [bass], and Dave Purcell [drums] - may have materialized out of Albuquerque, New Mexico, but they might as well have slipped through some intergalactic portal or stowed away on a derelict spacecraft before crashlanding in the desert. After building a cult following and raising tens of thousands of dollars on Kickstarter to launch this next chapter, these six musicians perfect this otherworldly vision on Alien Summer, the follow-up to DCO's 2019 full-length debut, Heaven. Alongside producer Matthew Tobias and thematic overdubs from GRAL Brothers, Dust City Opera expanded their sound on Alien Summer with cinematic flourishes and a grandiose backdrop befitting of the record's overarching themes.

The gothic grunge orchestra started teasing their new music throughout 2020 and 2021 with "An Okay Way To Go," "It," "Tile or Linoleum" and "Stars" before releasing "The Unkind" at the beginning of this year to officially prepare for the release of Alien Summer. Ominous guitars toss and turn over an anxious beat on "The Unkind" as Hunton's vocals contort in fits and flutters on a high register hook. Soft strains of acoustic guitar bleed through the front man's hypnotically haunting delivery on the album's title track. Climaxing with a bang, a crescendo of horns cries out in a lingering last catharsis on "Alien Summer," another lyrical sci-fi horror story about inner-alien DNA waking up and ripping through your skin.

Elsewhere, "The Fog" rolls in with delicate vocals before a stormy bridge, conjuring an image of "hungry ghosts floating around your bed to suck up any great dream you have," and then there's the upbeat "Days When," inspired by Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Another standout on the album is the somber and heartbreaking track "Angie," which Dust City Opera recently released the music video for ahead of its official release on DSPs. The tracks off Alien Summer have already received media support from the likes of Rock At Night, AntiMusic, Tinnitist, 1st Day Fresh, Vents Magazine, Top Shelf Music Magazine, and more. Full track listing for Alien Summer below.

Dust City Opera will celebrate the release of Alien Summer with a handful of live performances this month, starting with a hometown show at The Lobo Theater in Albuquerque on Friday, March 18th. The six-piece will then head to Pueblo and Denver in Colorado on March 25th and 26th, respectively. New shows in Texas and New Mexico have also been added for this spring, with more dates throughout the summer coming soon. See below for all upcoming shows.

Listen to the new album here:

Watch the "Alien Summer" music video here:

Tour Dates

March 18 - Albuquerque, NM @ The Lobo Theater
March 25 - Pueblo, CO @ Blo Back Gallery
March 26 - Denver, CO @ Lion's Lair
April 8 - El Paso, TX @ The Nature House
May 7 - Las Cruces, NM @ Little Toad Creek
May 8 - Los Griegos, NM @ La Sala

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