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On October 7 The Cult will release their new album, Under The Midnight Sun, via Black Hill Records. The band are currently in the midst of a midwest and east coast tour, previewing some of the songs from the album including the current single “Give Me Mercy.” Today they announce the addition of fall tour dates to the schedule with the new run kicking off September 15 in Vancouver, BC at the Hard Rock Casino and concluding at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on October 9 with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club as the main support for that show. Tickets for all shows are available here with the exception of the LA’s’ Greek Theatre which go on-sale this Thursday, July 28th @ 10 AM local time. See all dates listed below.
Like the rest of Under The Midnight Sun, “Give Me Mercy”was produced by Tom Dalgety (Pixies, Ghost, Royal Blood). Consequence said “‘Give Me Mercy’ feels classically Cult, as the band envelop their gothic rock influences with a modern sheen” and MXDWN noted “the song is fresh and dynamic.” The single makes clear that The Cult’s co-founding members, Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy, have spent the six years since their last LP pushing further into their esoteric strength. Flanked by Duffy’s dynamic guitar riff, Astbury reaches new heights of sinewy vulnerability.
Pre-order Under The Midnight Sun here.
When the sun just wouldn’t leave the sky one evening in Finland, Ian Astbury took notice. Walking the grounds of the Provinssirock festival, Astbury found himself reveling in the surreal, almost occult moment that comes with the “midnight sun,” the summer stretch where the sun doesn’t go down north of the Arctic Circle. “It’s three in the morning, the sun’s up, and there’s all these beautiful people in this halcyon moment,” Astbury remembers. “People are laying on the grass, making out, drinking, smoking. There were rows of flowers at the front of the stage from the performances earlier that evening. It was an incredible moment.” While reviewing archival footage of the performance, Astbury found new mysticism in that moment and imbued it into the forthcoming Under the Midnight Sun.
Leading to 2020, The Cult had been on a rolling cycle of releasing albums, touring, and recording. As the world shut down and everyone was forced to reprioritize the way they approached life and work. “When the world stopped, I had this moment to write in real time, to calculate,” says Astbury. When lockdown lifted and the group could meet to record, they teamed up with Dalgety. “I was compelled by this vision, this anomaly, this memory, of being under the midnight sun. Tom helped us bring a new musical shape and frequency to our process.”
Lyrically, Under the Midnight Sun bolsters that new musical dexterity by building out from the idyllic and surreal vision at its title. Throughout, Astbury pulls in influences from Brian Jones, Brion Gysin, William Burroughs, Buddhism, the Beats, and the Age of Aquarius, all shaded with the lingering threat of the present and the timeless Cult color palette.
As The Cult are now returning to performing live and sharing Under the Midnight Sun, Astbury hopes that the record connects to something deep within and subconscious in their listeners—something Astbury found within himself when given the moment to look for it. “At the core of it all, music contains the vibrational frequency of how we once communicated before we could even speak,” he says. “Bird songs, animal calls, string theory, quantum physics, psychedelics. The record ultimately is about finding and uniting beauty in those strangely natural moments.”
The Cult tour dates
July 26 – Crouse Hinds Theater – Syracuse, NY # %
July 27 – Meadowbrook Amphitheater – Detroit, MI # %
July 29 – Hogs for Hospice Charity Event at Seacliff Park – Leamington, ON
July 30 – Casino Rama – Orilla, ON
Sept 15 – Hard Rock Casino – Vancouver, BC
Sept 17- Grey Eagle Resort & Casino – Calgary, AB
Sept 18 – Jubilee Theatre – Edmonton, AB
Sept 20 – CU Place – Sid Buchwold Theatre – Saskatoon,SK
Sept 21 – Burton Cummings Theatre for the Performing Arts – Winnipeg, MB
Sept 23 – Sylee Theatre – Madison, WI *
Sept 24 – Hoyt Sherman Theatre – Des Moines, IA *
Sept 25 – The Admiral – Omaha, NE *
Sept 27 – Uptown Theatre – Kansas City, MO *#
Sept 29 – Fillmore – New Orleans, LA *
Sept 30 – 713 Music Hall – Houston, TX *
Oct 2 – Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheatre – Austin, TX *
Oct 9 – The Greek Theatre – Los Angeles, CA #
# – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club support
% – Zola Jesus support
* – King Woman support
