Diane Coffee, the eclectic pop project of Shaun Fleming, is returning with his third record Internet Arms, due out April 19 on Polyvinyl Record Co. In the years since releasing his last album Everybody’s A Good Dog, Fleming has been touring his bombastic live show and indulging his dramatic side by starring as King Herod in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s acclaimed staging of Jesus Christ Superstar.
On Internet Arms, Fleming embraces an even bolder glam pop sound and questions modern society’s tangled relationship with technology. “It became obvious as I was writing the album, just how entangled my social/emotional self is with technology, making me more exposed and simultaneously less connected,” he says. “Why are we so drawn to this existence? With Internet Arms, I had a chance to explore these questions and it became very clear to me that I have a intricate and somewhat disconnected relationship with how I perceive myself and how I project myself. After wrestling with these questions on my own, the album has become my way to broaden the dialogue, and check in with everyone to ask, ‘How are you doing in our new worlds? Are you successfully navigating both your real and your digital existence? Is this working? Is this our destiny, or is there an alternative?'”
Diane Coffee shared the album’s first single today, the sweeping opening track “Not Ready To Go,” via a video directed by Joe Baughman.
“There’s no better way to explain ‘Not Ready To Go’ than a quote from world renowned negotiation expert Daniel L. Shapiro: ‘This is our drive to cling to an identity with which we are familiar, even if it is dysfunctional and personally damaging,'” says Fleming. “We have all had a version of this struggle, so I wanted to open a forum, a safe place for the discussion of guilt, shame, and for not knowing how to leave a toxic situation. I find it’s like I am observing myself within the relationship but can’t quite move my physical self out of the ‘repetition compulsion’ because the emotional ties are too strong. Fear of the unknown, isolation, dependency, and a feeling of deserving all keep us from breaking free of what is poisoning us. It’s so easy for the observer to think, ‘It’s their choice,’ but all our traumas and all the reinforcements make it very difficult to see how you found yourself in these loops and how to stop them. I hope the conversation can be constructive as well, shifting to how to find the strength to step out of a bad cycle and how to recover from the trauma.”
Internet Arms is out April 19 on Polyvinyl and is available for pre-order in physical and digital format.
Diane Coffee – Internet Arms
April 19, 2019 – Polyvinyl Records
1. Not Ready To Go
2. Like A Child Does
3. The Look
4. Stuck In Your Saturday Night
5. Simulation
6. Internet Arms
7. War
8. Doubt
9. Work It
10. Good Lucky
11. Lights Off
12. Turn On
13. Company Man
Diane Coffee is taking Internet Arms on tour across North America this spring and summer. Catch him at:
04/24 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas
04/25 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop
05/09 – Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe #
05/10 – Washington, DC @ DC9 #
05/11 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s #%
05/14 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom #%
05/15 – Boston, MA @ Sonia #%
05/16 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz #%
05/17 – Toronto, ON @ The Garrison #%
05/18 – Detroit, MI @ Deluxx Fluxx #%
05/31 – Milwaukee, WI @ Colectivo
06/01 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry
06/02 – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown – Front Room
06/05 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza
06/07 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
06/08 – Vancouver, BC @ Wise Hall
06/11 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
06/13 – Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room
06/14 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
06/15 – San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
06/16 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar
06/18 – Denver, CO @ Globe Hall
06/20 – Kansas City, MO@ recordBar
06/21 – St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway
06/22 – Indianapolis, IN @ Hi-Fi
06/28 – Davenport, IA @ Racoon Motel
06/29 – Macomb, IL @ Heritage Days
# w/ Active Bird Community
% w/ Jackie Mendoza
Vents Magazine Music and Entertainment Magazine
