Shame have released ‘Spartak’, the third single and video from their new album ‘Cutthroat’, due on 5th September via Dead Oceans.
Following last month’s ‘Quiet Life’, ‘Spartak’ leans into Americana and country inflections. “I was basically trying to write a Wilco song,” guitarist Sean Coyle-Smith comments. The track’s lyrics tackle cliques and groupthink, focusing on social climbers.
“I guess this disdain towards cliques comes from how shit I was made to feel by the cool kids growing up,” frontman Charlie Steen explains. “I was a chubby teenager who liked the wrong type of music and wore the wrong type of clothes. It’s just another time I’d like to say fuck you to those people, and to anyone who makes someone feel shitty for not fitting in.”
Produced by Grammy-winning John Congleton, ‘Cutthroat’ interrogates themes of conflict, corruption, desire and cowardice. “It’s about the cowards, the cunts, the hypocrites,” says Steen. “Let’s face it, there’s a lot of them around right now.” The band recorded at Salvation Studios in Brighton, with Coyle-Smith folding ideas from electronic loops developed on tour into the songwriting. “This time, anything could go if it sounded good and you got it right,” he says.
The band’s upcoming dates read:
SEPTEMBER
28 La Cigale, Paris, FR
29 TRIX, Antwerp, BE
30 Gebäude 9, Cologne, DE
OCTOBER
2 Melkweg, Amsterdam, NL
3 Doornroosje, Nijmegen, NL
4 Molotow, Hamburg, DE
6 Pumphuset, Copenhagen, DK
7 Parkteatret AS, Oslo, NO
8 Slaktkyrkan, Stockholm, SE
10 Korjaamo, Helsinki, FI
11 Paavli Kultuurivabrik, Tallinn, EE
12 Palladium, Riga, LV
14 Kultūra, Vilnius, LT
15 NIEBO, Warsaw, PL
16 SO36, Berlin, DE
18 MeetFactory, Prague, CZ
19 CverNov. ka, Bratislava Nov. a, SK
20 Chelsea, Vienna, AT
22 Club Mochvara, Zagreb, HR
23 Zappa Baza, Belgrade, RS
24 Mixtape 5, Sofia, BG
26 Blind, Istanbul, TK
28 Control, Bucharest, RO
29 Atelier, Cluj, RO
30 A38, Budapest, HU
31 Strom, Munich, DE
NOVEMBER
2 Plaza, Zurich, CH
3 Magazzini Generali, Milan, IT
5 L’Epicerie Moderne, Lyon, FR
6 La Cartonnerie, Reims, FR
7 L’Aeronef, Lille, FR
9 1865, Southampton, UK
10 Project House, Leeds, UK
12 National Stadium, Dublin, IE
13 Cyprus Avenue, Cork, IE
15 New Century, Manchester, UK
16 The Garage, Glasgow, UK
17 SWX, Bristol, UK
19 Chalk, Brighton, UK
20 O2 Forum Kentish Town, London, UK
JANUARY
15 Ottobar, Baltimore, MD
16 First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA
17 Warsaw, Brooklyn, NY
19 Brighton Music Hall, Boston, MA
20 The Press Room, Portsmouth, NH
21 Club Soda, Montreal, QC
23 Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto, ON
24 The Loving Touch, Ferndale, MI
25 Thalia Hall, Chicago, IL
27 Turf Club, St. Paul, MN
29 Beer City Music Hall, Oklahoma City, OK
30 Sons of Hermann Hall, Dallas, TX
31 Mohawk, Austin, TX
FEBRUARY
3 La Rosa, Tucson, AZ
5 Casbah, San Diego, CA
6 Constellation Room, Santa Ana, CA
7 Belasco Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
10 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA
12 Wonder Ballroom, Portland, OR
13 Neumos, Seattle, WA
14 The Pearl, Vancouver, BC
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