Generationals have announced the release of their forthcoming record, Reader As Detective. They debuted their new single “I Turned My Back on the Written Word” last night in a surprise performance on Fresh Fridays. Their long-awaited return to television wowed audiences nation-wide.
From their inception Generationals have existed at the convergence of classic style and contemporary technique. Students of an analog school actualized in a digital medium, Grant Widmer and Ted Joyner have always felt most comfortable reveling in this juxtaposition. Grounded in a catalog of infectious pop hooks that feel both familiar and radically new all at once, Generationals mastered their distinct voice as a means to widen the path before them.
Reader As Detective, their new full-length album, weds vintage pop canon and modern pop production in a way this duo has proven incomparably adept. From the cornerstone sample of “I Turned My Back on the Written Word,” (a recontextualization of an unreleased b-side) to the playful synths & stuttered drums of “Dream Box,” and jogging rhythms of “Breaking Your Silence,” Generationals continue to push the envelope by playing by their own rules.
In the years following their last album, Alix, the band experimented by releasing one-off singles and videos immediately upon their completion, which eventually formed 2018’s State Dogs collection. This method – an exploratory dive in shirking the nature of traditional album rollouts – refined how they approached writing. Freed from the album-cycle mentality, the pair was able to focus on each track autonomously, rather than as a fragment of a larger batch of songs.
Reader As Detective is the result of purposeful time spent honing Generationals’ craft as progressive songwriters. With the help of producer and longtime collaborator Dan Black, they dug into new methods of creation with a fearlessness for experimentation that is equally vital to the experience of both artist and listener. With Reader As Detective, Generationals have reached a high-water mark in an already noteworthy career – isolation and celebration set to a major key.
TOUR DATES
8/16 – Dallas, TX – Club Dada
8/17 – Austin, TX – Antone’s Nightclub
8/19 – Phoenix, AZ – Valley Bar
8/20 – San Diego, CA – Casbah
8/22 – Los Angeles, CA – Lodge Room
8/23 – Santa Barbara, CA – SOhO Music Club
8/24 – San Francisco, CA – The Independent
8/26 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
8/27 – Vancouver, BC – Fox Cabaret
8/28 – Seattle, WA – The Crocodile
8/30 – Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater
9/18 – Madison, WI – High Noon Saloon
9/19 – St. Paul, MN – Turf Club
9/20 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
9/21 – Colombus, OH – The A&R Music Bar
9/22 – Toronto, ON – Horseshoe Tavern
9/24 – Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair
9/26 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
9/27 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
9/28 – Washington, DC – The Black Cat
9/30 – Durham, NC – Motorco Music Hall
10/2 – Nashville, TN – The Basement East
10/3 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
10/4 – Birmingham, AL – Saturn
10/5 – New Orleans, LA – Tipitina’s
READER AS DETECTIVE – TRACKLISTING
01. I’ve Been Wrong Before
02. I Turned My Back on the Written Word
03. Breaking Your Silence
04. A List of the Virtues
05. Gatekeeper
06. Xeno Bobby
07. Society of Winners
08. Deadbeat Shiver
09. Save This For Never
10. Dream Box
Photo credit: Drew Stubbs & Joni Moore
