New York Trio Sunflower Bean Share New Single HUMAN FOR + New Album Out Next Week

New York trio Sunflower Bean will release their sophomore record Twentytwo in Blue next week, and today they share a new single entitled "Human For." A hard-hitting track that seamlessly melds Julia Cumming's harmonies with Jacob Faber's pulsating drums and Nick Kivlen's slow-burning guitar riffs, "Human For" is a quintessential Sunflower Bean shredder, especially when performed live. "Music and art is the religion for the non-religious," the band explains of the song. "It gives life meaning and purpose. It keeps us alive. This song is a rallying cry for our purpose, and a rejection of the way other people think you must define your life."

Sunflower Bean are taking Twentytwo in Blue on the road this year with tour dates throughout the U.S., E.U., and U.K. and currently at SXSW. See below to find a show near you, including a hometown show at Bowery Ballroom in NYC on April 26th where they will perform the new album in its entirety.

Sunflower Bean will release Twentytwo in Blue on March 23rd - when all members of the band will be 22 years old - and comes almost two years and two months after the release of their critically acclaimed 2016 debut album Human Ceremony. Co-produced by Unknown Mortal Orchestra's Jacob Portrait (who also mixed the record) and HC-producer Matt Molnar of Friends, Twentytwo in Blue shows Sunflower Bean stay true to their guitar band core and classic rock-inspired roots, while exploring new sonic textures with more direct and progressive themes. Unlike their debut, which was essentially a compilation of songs Sunflower Bean wrote while still in their teens, Twentytwo in Blue was made in the year between December 2016 and December 2017 and showcases how far the band has come since playing together in their high school days. Pre-order Twentytwo in Blue.

To celebrate the album release, Sunflower Bean has teamed up with Fender and U-Turn Audio for a giveaway that includes: a signed copy of Twentytwo In Blue, lake placid blue Fender Standard Stratocaster and blue U-Turn Audio Orbit Turntable Plus.

Sunflower Bean find a sublime maturity and progression to their sound and songwriting on Twentytwo in Blue. If there was a ragged beauty in the gauzy, groovy WALL OF SOUND of Human Ceremony and its predecessor, the 2015 EP Show Me Your Seven Secrets, there's a new directness to these songs, a product of the band's growth and the insanity of the times we're in. Sunflower Bean have gained a newly confident voice that they bring to the second album, one that doesn't shy away from addressing the other events of those two years-political changes and cultural shifts that have left America and the world stupefied. "This has been such an unbelievable time," says Kivlen. "I can't imagine any artist of our ilk making a record and not have it be seen through the lens of the political climate of 2016 and 2017. So I think there's a few songs on the record that are definitely heavily influenced by this sort of-whatever you want to say what the Trump administration has been." "A s show," offers a helpful Faber.

Ultimately, this record is much more than a political statement or piece of commentary on today's political climate. "I think one word that always comes to mind when I think about this record is lovable," says Cumming. "We want the songs to be something that someone can get attached to, and have be a part of them. Because that's what I look for in songs myself, and that's the kind of experience we want to give to others."

Tour dates

3/12-18/18 - Austin, TX @ SXSW

3/24 - Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms %

3/26 - Norwich, UK @ Open Norwich %

3/27 - Birmingham, UK @ Hare and Hounds %

3/28 - Newcastle upon Tyne, UK @ Riverside %

3/29 - Leeds, UK @ Wardrobe %

3/30 - Manchester, UK @ Gorilla %

3/31 - Liverpool, UK @ Substation at Invisible Wind Factory %

4/01 - Glasgow, UK @ Stereo %

4/03 - Bristol, UK @ Thekla %

4/05 - Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2 %

4/06 - London, UK @ Koko %

4/09 - Paris, FR @ Point Ephemere

4/10 - Antwerp, Belgium @ TRIX VZW

4/11 - Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso

4/12 - Hamburg, Germany @ Molotow

4/13 - Copenhagen, Denmark @ Loppen

4/14 - Berlin, Germany @ Rosis

4/15 - Vienna, Austria @ Chelsea Club

4/17 - Lausanne, Switzerland @ Le Romandie

4/18 - Zurich, Switzerland @ Bogen F

4/19 - Cologne, Germany @ Blue Shell

4/26 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom

5/2 - Hamden, CT @ The Ballroom at The Outer Space ^

5/3 - Cambridge, MA @ Sonia ^

5/4 - Montreal, QC @ Petit Campus ^

5/5 - Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern ^

5/6 - Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place ^

5/8 - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern ^

5/9 - Pontiac, MI @ The Pike Room at the Crofoot ^

5/11 - Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall ^

5/12 - Grand Rapids, MI @ Founders Brewing Co ^

5/13 - Millvale, PA @ The Funhouse at Mr. Smalls ^

5/20 - Gulf Shores, AL @ The Hangout Music Festival

5/31 - Nelsonville, OH @ Nelsonville Music Festival

6/1 - Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery *

6/2 - Washington, D.C. @ Rock & Roll Hotel *

6/3 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle - Back Room *

6/5 - Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor *

6/6 - Atlanta, GA @ Aisle 5 *

6/8 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall: Upstairs #

6/9 - Austin, TX @ The Scoot Inn $

6/10 - Dallas, TX @ Club Dada #

6/12 - Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar #

6/13 - La Jolla, CA @ Che Cafe #

6/14 - Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room #
6/15 - Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom #

6/19 - Vancouver, BC @ The FOX Cabaret &

6/20 - Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile &

6/23 - Denver, CO @ Westword Music Showcase

6/25 - Omaha, NE @ Reverb +

6/26 - Kansas City, MO @ recordBar +

6/27 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry +

6/30 - Indianapolis, IN @ Hoosier Dome +

7/1 - Nashville, TN @ 3rd and Lindsley

8/4-5 - Happy Valley, OR @ Pickathon

% - with support from Sorry

^ - with support from Dream Wife

* - with support from The Nude Party

# - with support from Jesse Jo Stark

& - with support from The Paranoyds

+ - with support from Public Access TV

$ - with Broncho

Photo Credit: Andy DeLuca

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