Speedy Ortiz released “Scabs” in April, their first original single since 2018. It was billed as the “first to feature longtime touring members Audrey Zee Whitesides and Joey Doubek”, alongside Sadie Dupuis.
To kick things off this month, the Philadelphia-formed rock band announced their first album in five years, Rabbit Rabbit, is slated for September 1 and coupled the news with the single “You S02”. Speedy Ortiz served up another good news double dip on Wednesday, June 28.
“Plus One”, another single, arrived alongside a fall North American tour schedule spanning over 50 dates.
Dupuis explained the underlying connection between the “Plus One” premise and touring in a statement:
“I love touring, but the workaholism it encourages has been a convenient way to quell my feelings. During the pandemic, I found myself ruminating on my estrangement from an abusive family member. I used my writing to deal with other experiences of violence, but I had not addressed those memories until Rabbit Rabbit. Being able to work through old traumas in therapy and in my writing has helped my boundaries elsewhere and taught me how to step out of exploitative relationships.
“That’s what ‘Plus One’ is about, and it came out pretty quickly like a sad acoustic waltz. I was sitting on the floor of an empty living room, halfway through, and the bare surroundings added a preliminary austerity, although some images were inspired by scenes in West Philly that summer. When I went back to pre-production, Texas post-hardcore was in my head, so I tried to channel At the Drive-In and Trail of Dead, bands that inspired me as a teenager.
The accompanying video, directed by Dylan Mars Greenberg, features a seemingly innocent black rabbit gradually transforming into a “Godzilla-sized star…who’s mad as hell and just not going to take it anymore.”
Watch the “Plus One” video above and check out all of Speedy Ortiz’s upcoming tour dates below.
07/28 – Chicago, IL @ Wicker Park Festival
07/29 – Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen (with The Good Life)
05/09 — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania @ Johnny Brenda’s
06/09 — Kingston, NY @ Tubby’s
07/09 — Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom
08/09 — Somerville, MA @ ONCE at the Armory Arts Center
09/10 – Troy, NY @ No fun
11/09 – Winooski, VT @ The Monkey House
09/13 — Montreal, QC @ Casa Del Popolo
09/14 — Toronto, ON @ Rivoli
09/15 — Lakewood, Ohio @ Mahall’s
09/16 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Roboto Project
0918 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups
09/19 – Grand Rapids, MI @ The Pyramid Scheme
9/21 — Cudahy, WI @ X-Ray Arcade
09/22 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop
09/23 – Louisville, KY @ The Swirling Tiger
09/25 — Nashville, TN @ DRKMTTR
09/26 – Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor
09/27 – Columbia, SC @ New Brookland Tavern
09/29 – Savannah, GA @ Lodge of Sorrows
09/30 – Birmingham, AL @ TrimTab Brewing Company
01/10 – Memphis, TN @ Growlers
3/10 – St. Louis, MO @ The Chasm
04/10 — Cincinnati, Ohio @ Pub MOTR
06/10 – Morgantown, WV @ 123 Pleasant Street
10/18 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat
10/19 – Richmond, Virginia @ The Camel
10/20 – Durham, NC @ The Pinhook
10/21 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade – Purgatory
10/23 — Miami, Florida @ Gramps
10/24 — Winter Park, Florida @ Driven
10/25 – New Orleans, LA @ Competition
10/27 — Houston, TX @ Black Magic Social Club
10/28 – Austin, TX @ The Parish
10/29 — Denton, TX @ Andy’s Bar
10/30—San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger
01/11 – Phoenix, AZ @ last outing
11/02 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo
06/11 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
08/11 — Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall
09/11 — Seattle, WA @ Barboza
10/11 – Bellingham, WA @ The Shakedown
11/11 — Vancouver, BC @ The Cobalt
11/13 — Boise, ID @ Neurolux
11/14 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
11/16 – Denver, CO @ Globe Hall
11/17 – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
11/18 – Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck
11/19 — Des Moines, IA @ xBk
11/22 — Detroit, MI @ Lager House
12/16 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
Rabbit Rabbit was released on 1/9 via Wax Nine. Find more information here.