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Feb 26, 2019 By Christopher Roberts Photography by Nicholas Moore The Drums

The Drums (aka Jonny Pierce) is releasing a new album, Brutalism, on April 5 via ANTI-. Previously he shared its first single, “Body Chemistry,” which was one of our Songs of the Week. Now he has shared another song from the album, “626 Bedford Avenue,” and announced some new tour dates in July and August. Check out the song and tour dates below.

Pierce had this to say about “626 Bedford Avenue” in a press release: “I’m a big believer in making yourself vulnerable in personal relationships, and keeping your guard down. This song talks about how I sometimes make myself fully emotionally available to people who can’t reciprocate because of their own insecurities, and the frustration that ensues ... This song is my tongue-in-cheek exploration of those ideas - being kind, not taking shit from anyone, and learning to hold people accountable for their own choices, while still holding some empathy for them.”

The album is the follow-up to 2017’s “Abysmal Thoughts” (the quote marks are part of the title), which was the first Drums album that was essentially a Pierce solo project.

Brutalism was written and recorded between Upstate New York and a studio in Stinson Beach, just north of San Francisco. A press release states: “Following a painful divorce and an incredibly difficult stint living solely in Los Angeles, Pierce decided it was time to face his demons, and the making of this record is a part of that process.”

Pierce further explains: “I was exhausted, depleted and sabotaging myself, partying so much but in reality running away from pain. It was a downward spiral.”

And so Pierce went to therapy. “It was do or die,” he says.

The press release says that Pierce is now “working towards a better, healthier headspace.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever really find myself,” he says. “I don’t think people do. I don’t think there’s a day that you wake up and you go, ‘Now I know who I am.’ The best way for me to be an artist is by taking a goddamn minute, being still, and listening to what it is that I want and need.”

Read our 2017 Protest interview with The Drums’ Jonny Pierce.

The Drums Tour Dates:

4/24/19 - Tustin, CA @ Marty’s On Newport
4/26/19 - El Paso, TX @ Lowbrow Palace
4/27/19 - San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger
4/29/19 - Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room
4/30/19 - St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
5/01/19 - Chicago, IL @ Metro
5/02/19 - Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theater
5/04/19 - Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
5/07/19 - New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
5/08/19 - Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes
5/09/19 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry at The Fillmore
5/10/19 - Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
5/11/19 - Washington, D.C. @ The Black Cat
5/13/19 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
5/14/19 - Nashville, TN @ Exit/In
5/15/19 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
5/16/19 - Orlando, FL @ The Beacham Theater
5/17/19 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution Live
5/18/19 - Tampa Bay, FL @ The Orpheum
5/20/19 - Pensacola, FL @ Vinyl Music Hall
5/21/19 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall (Downstairs)
5/22/19 - Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
5/23/19 - Austin, TX @ Emo’s
7/25/19 - San Francisco, CA @ August Hall
7/26/19 - San Francisco, CA @ August Hall
7/27/19 - Los Angeles, CA @ Palladium
7/30/19 - San Diego, CA @ North Park
7/31/19 - Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl
8/01/19 - Phoenix, AZ @ Van Buren
8/02/19 - Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
8/03/19 - Denver, CO @ Bluebird
8/06/19 - Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
8/07/19 - Vancouver, BC @ Imperial
8/08/19 - Seattle, WA @ The Showbox

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