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Mar 07, 2023 By Mark Redfern Photography by Trevor Naud

Detroit-formed post-punkers Protomartyr have announced a new album, Formal Growth in the Desert, and shared its first single, “Make Way,” via a music video. They have also announced some tour dates. Formal Growth in the Desert is due out June 2 via Domino. Trevor Naud directed the “Make Way” video. Watch it below, followed by the album’s tracklist and cover artwork, as well as the tour dates.

Formal Growth in the Desert is the follow-up to 2020’s Ultimate Success Today. Protomartyr is vocalist Joe Casey, guitarist Greg Ahee, drummer Alex Leonard, and bassist Scott Davidson. The album was recorded at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas. “The desert is more of a metaphor or symbol,” Casey says in a press release, “of emotional deserts, or a place or time that seems to lack life.”

Naud had this to say about directing the “Make Way” video: “There’s a deliberate through-line between the videos for ‘Make Way’ and 2020’s ‘Worm In Heaven.’ The two songs feel partnered with each other, so I wanted the videos to feel like they exist in the same world. There are layers of experiments happening—all within a closed environment. We don’t know what’s happened to the world outside, but there’s an undertone that things maybe aren’t quite right.”

Read our review of Ultimate Success Today here.

Read our 2017 interview with Protomartyr.

Formal Growth in the Desert Tracklist:

1. Make Way
2. For Tomorrow
3. Elimination Dances
4. Fun In Hi Skool
5. Let’s Tip the Creator
6. Graft Vs. Host
7. 3800 Tigers
8. Polacrilex Kid
9. Fulfillment Center
10. We Know the Rats
11. The Author
12. Rain Garden

Protomartyr Tour Dates: Sat. Mar. 11 - Columbus, OH @ Soupfest
Sun. Mar. 12 - Chattanooga, TN @ JJ’s Bohemia
Mon. Mar. 13 - New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa
Wed. Mar. 15 - Austin, TX @ SXSW- Laneway Official Showcase - Lucille
Thu. Mar. 16 - Austin, TX @ SXSW - Levitation Showcase - Hotel Vegas
Thu. Mar. 16 - Austin, TX @ SXSW - Brooklyn Vegan Showcase - Empire
Fri. Mar. 17 - Austin, TX @ SXSW - Third Man Showcase - 13th Floor
Sat. Mar. 18 - Dallas, TX @ Texas Theater
Mon. Mar. 20 - Phoenix, AZ @ Rebel
Tue. Mar. 21 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah
Wed. Mar. 22 - Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram
Fri. Mar. 24 - Bakersfield, CA @ Temblor Brewing
Sat. Mar. 25 - Reno, NV @ Holland Project
Sun. Mar. 26 - Boise, ID @ Treefort
Tue. Mar. 28 - Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive
Wed. Mar. 29 - Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
Thu. Mar. 30 - Davenport, IA @ Raccoon Motel
Fri. Mar. 31 - Grand Rapids, MI @ Pyramid Scheme
Tue. June 13 - Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
Wed. June 14 - Montreal, QC @ Fairmount
Fri. June 16 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
Sat. June 17 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
Tue. June 20 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat
Wed. June 21 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
Thu. June 22 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
Fri. June 23 - Nashville, TN @ Blue Room
Sat. June 24 - St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway
Mon. June 26 - Oklahoma City, OK @ 89th Street
Tue. June 28 - Tucson, AZ @ 191 Toole
Wed. June 29 - Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room
Sat. July 1 - San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
Sun. July 2 - Santa Cruz, CA @ Moe’s Alley
Wed. July 5 - Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
Thu. July 6 - Vancouver, BC @ Cobalt
Fri. July 7 - Seattle, WA @ Crocodile
Sat. July 8 - Spokane, WA @ Lucky You
Tue. July 11 - St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
Wed. July 12 - Madison, WI @ High Noon
Thu. July 13 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
Sun. Aug. 6 - Frankfurt, DE @ Zoom
Mon. Aug. 7 - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
Wed. Aug. 9 - Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2
Thu. Aug. 10 - Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms
Fri. Aug. 11 - Cardiff, UK @ Clwb lfor Bach
Sat. Aug. 12 - Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
Mon. Aug. 14 - Eindhoven, NL @ Effenaar
Tue. Aug. 15 - Hannover, DE @ Indiego Glocksee
Thu. Aug. 17 - Copenhagen, DK @ Loppen
Fri. Aug. 18 - Bodo, NO @ Parkenfestivalen
Sat. Aug. 19 - Trondheim, NE @ Pstereo
Thu. Oct. 26 - London, UK @ Electric Ballroom

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