On June 22nd, Dawes will release Passwords, the group’s sixth studio album, and fourth on their own HUB Records. Passwords is an album for and about the modern age: the relationships that fill it, the politics that divide it, and the small victories and big losses that give it shape. “We’re living in such a unique moment in history,” says lead singer and songwriter Taylor Goldsmith, “Many of these songs are an attempt to come to terms with the modern world, while always trying to consider both sides of the story.”
Dawes will debut the album’s first single, “Living In the Future,” on May 10th and you can watch the album trailer for Passwords below…
In the decade since Dawes emerged from Southern California, the band, consisting of guitarist/singer Taylor Goldsmith, drummer Griffin Goldsmith, bassist Wylie Gelber, and keyboardist Lee Pardini, has evolved and electrified and grown into a forward-thinking band for the 21st century. The result is Passwords, a warm, lived-in album that spotlights Dawes’s strength as a live act while also staying rooted in studio craft and consideration. The album bounces between the familiar territory of guitar-driven indie rock (the anthemic, atmospheric “Living In The Future”); SoCal soul (“My Greatest Invention”); and modern folk (“I Can’t Love,” “Stay Down”), but also embraces a spacier, experimental approach thanks to the band’s newest member, keyboardist Lee Pardini.
For Passwords, Dawes was reunited with Jonathan Wilson, who produced the band’s first two albums. “Part of the DNA of Dawes was shaped by Jonathan,” Goldsmith says. “Those first two Dawes records have a certain essence to them. We were figuring out who we were. When it came time to produce our sixth album, why not go back to the guy who started it all with us?” Wilson adds: “I wanted to record them live and capture that magic that you can only get recording a real fucking band, that lives together and breathes together as a unit. There aren’t too many of those left, but I think we captured it.”
Ultimately, Passwords is a clever and clear-eyed defense of empathy in the face of apathy (on songs like “Living In The Future”) and a timely call for patience and understanding in an age of political partisanship (on “Crack the Case”). “Songs can be passwords,” Goldsmith says, “because they’re a means of giving access to someone else’s perspective, thereby elaborating your own.” In this way, Passwords uses its words wisely, unfolding with well-reasoned articulation and pointed punch, while never compromising the band’s innate musicality and song-writing prowess. Rarely has a band created such an appropriate soundtrack for the modern age, and with Passwords, Dawes does just that.
In August, Dawes will join Jeff Lynne’s Electric Light Orchestra on their first North American tour in over 30 years, and open for the band in cities including Oakland, Denver, Dallas, as well as two shows at NYC’s Madison Square Garden and two shows at LA’s The Forum. The band will also perform a date in Vienna, VA with Shovels and Rope and festival dates including Pilgrimage Music Festival. Full dates below. Dawes will announce a full North American headlining tour soon.
Dawes- Passwords Tracklisting
1. Living in the Future
2. Stay Down
3. Crack the Case
4. Feed the Fire
5. My Greatest Invention
6. Telescope
7. I Can’t Love
8. Mistakes We Should Have Made
9. Never Gonna Say Goodbye
10. Time Flies Either Way
Dawes Tour Dates– Tickets at http://dawestheband.com/
May 20 /// Houston, TX /// The Great Texas BBQ Festival^
August 2 /// Oakland, CA /// Oracle Arena*
August 4 /// Los Angeles, CA /// The Forum*
August 5 /// Los Angeles, CA /// The Forum*
August 8 /// Denver, CO /// Pepsi Center*
August 10 /// Houston, TX /// Toyota Center*
August 13 /// Dallas, TX /// American Airlines Center*
August 15 /// Chicago, IL /// Allstate Arena*
August 16 /// Detroit, MI /// Little Caesars Arena*
August 17 /// Wellston, MI /// Hoxeyville Music Festival^
August 18 /// Toronto, ON /// Air Canada Centre*
August 21 /// New York, NY /// Madison Square Garden*
August 22 /// New York, NY /// Madison Square Garden*
August 23 /// Vienna, VA /// Wolf Trap&
August 24 /// Philadelphia, PA /// Wells Fargo Center*
September 15 /// Fredericton, NB, Canada /// Harvest Jazz And Blues Festival^
September 16 /// Canton, MA /// Festival At The Farm^
September 22 /// Franklin, TN /// Pilgrimage Music Festival^
* w/ Jeff Lynne’s Electric Light Orchestra
^ Festival Date
& w/ Shovels & Rope
