Chicago punk rock trio The Lawrence Arms have unveiled the details of their first full-length studio release in eight years, which the band have dubbed Metropole. The album is slated for release Friday, 24th January and readers can hear the first taste of the new LP, You Are Here, below.
Members Brendan Kelly, Chris McCaughan, and Neil Hennessey formed The Lawrence Arms in 1999, together releasing five studio albums to date. A period of near inactivity has seen them reconvene as a stronger outfit looking to move their songs further inward.
The new album captures “that alone-in-a-crowd, stranger-in-a-strange-land kind of shit—a feeling of such weird solitude that you don’t even know what’s up and what’s down ’cause you’re so caught in the wake of the city,” says vocalist and bassist Kelly.
Taking on a diverse range of influences, from the work of Dostoyevsky to Outkast and Japanese hardcore, Metropole was recorded in the The Lawrence Arms’ hometown with co-producer Matt Allison, best known for working with fellow Chicago scene veterans Alkaline Trio.
“Because of the way we exist as a band, it was important for us to wait until we knew we had something to say that was sharp and pointed and dynamic and incisive,” says Kelly. “And if we didn’t have that, then we’d just rather not make a record, ’cause fuck it.”
Readers can check out artwork and the full tracklist for Metropole, below.
Watch: The Lawrence Arms – You Are Here
The Lawrence Arms – Metropole Tracklist
01. Chilean District
02. You Are Here
03. Hickey Avenue
04. Seventeener (17th and 34th)
05. Beautiful Things
06. Acheron River
07. Metropole
08. Drunk Tweets
09. The YMCA Down the Street from the Clinic
10. Never Fade Away
11. Paradise Shitty
12. October Blood
