TOUR STARTS THIS WEEK IN GERMANY

Against all odds.

photo by Sara Melvin

The last month has felt like a year. I have a lot to say about it all. But in the meantime, I'd be remiss to not send a letter to say - our tour begins this week in Hamburg. We're touring all around; Copenhagen, Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Dublin - and then Glasgow, Brighton, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, and London. I know the world is bizarre, and sad, and painful right now - but somehow we made it through snowstorms and cancelled flights and flat tires to be here in the EU now. And we're getting out there, grateful and excited.

The show is more than a concert. It's a multimedia show with visual and spoken elements, a show that tells a kind of story in three parts, and the creation of an artistic dream team. I don't want to give too much away before it begins, but I'm so proud of this show.

photo by Sara Melvin

I started thinking about this show way back in 2022, when we toured through the tail end of the pandemic. It got me thinking so much about the privilege of being in a room together - about how rare and difficult and lovely it is to be in real life, not on the internet, not on social media. I've been thinking about the energy in the room, and how it feels, and the role we all have in shifting it. I've been thinking about light and colour and music and story, and how to make a show as immersive as possible. These days, I think touring is a privilege, not something that we can take for granted, and so I'm bringing all I can to this show.

The show is the product of a dream collaboration with video artist Philippe Leonard (Godspeed You Black Emperor, Elisapie). Philippe went above and beyond in the creation of this show and fleshing out the meaning of the songs visually, as well as pulling off some insane feats technically. Lighting design by Estelle Frenette Vallieres, touring lights by Matthew Lawler. Anne Bourne, who is a musician and also a disciple of Pauline Oliveros, was an artistic consultant / sage / adviser, and Charles Spearin helped shepherd it into being too.

The band will be sensational, with Ben Boye, Karen Ng, Ben Whiteley, and Dom Billett. Georgia Harmer, who is a wonderful songwriter and singer, is opening. Though we are playing mostly clubs, we've been putting together a show fit for a theatre.

This show is expensive and complicated to put on; let alone to bring to Europe. To anyone asking if we were going to play other places in Europe not in this original announcement - we will try. But I can't promise anything, and if we do make it back, it may not be this show. So if you want to see the show, and you live close enough to one of these cities, this is the tour to catch.

And after this, it's on to the US and Canada, with the full show in tow. Tour dates are here, on sale now.

Thank you everyone for the lovely and thoughtful notes about the record. I have been totally consumed by show prep, but looking forward to digging into more in further newsletters, as well as all the other things in me to say to the world at this moment.

photo by Sara Melvin