Louisville, Kentucky’s White Reaper have announced their widely anticipated new album, You Deserve Love, due out October 18th on Elektra Records. The band has also shared a brand-new single, “1F” which is streaming now along with an official music video directed by Mason Mercer.
Recorded with producer Jay Joyce in Nashville, Tennessee, You Deserve Love marks White Reaper’s Elektra Records debut and follows their celebrated 2017 album, The World’s Best American Band. The album is a collection of smart, sharply-written songs of doubt, dislocation, and elusive and often complicated love. Earlier this summer White Reaper shared You Deserve Love’s lead singles “Real Long Time” and “Might Be Right,” the latter of which has quickly ascended into the Top 30 on Billboard’s ‘Alternative Songs’ chart. Pre-orders for You Deserve Love are available today with exclusive bundles – including limited edition vinyl – available at www.whitereaperusa.com.
Reflecting on the album title, vocalist / guitarist Tony Esposito explained that the name for the record came from a note on bassist Sam Wilkerson’s phone. “He had written things down he thought might be good album titles, and we were all sitting around at a bar in Nashville after we had just finished recording, vexing about what we were going to call the album.”
Wilkerson explained, “I started reading them aloud at the bar, and everyone stopped me at You Deserve Love,” adding, “I think it’s cool, because it’s true for everybody. I think it’s what everybody needs to hear.”
White Reaper recently previewed You Deserve Love in conversation with Stereogum, while “Real Long Time” and “Might Be Right” have been widely praised with Consequence of Sound declaring, “It’s still loud, it’s still a little snotty, and it’s still White Reaper.” GQ applauded “Might Be Right” stating, “This new single from Kentucky boys White Reaper is the perfect companion for all your nice weather fun,” while UPROXX commended “Real Long Time” attesting, “White Reaper have made one of the year’s catchiest rock songs.” FLOOD Magazine avowed, “’Might Be Right’ falls directly in line with the ambitious, arena-bound power pop with more than a hint of glam of their previous efforts, doing plenty to further the cause Cheap Trick wanted us to want forty years ago,” with PASTE Magazine noting, “Elements of nu-disco and pop intermingle with the band’s signature garage-punk sound.”
This fall White Reaper will embark on a North American headline tour set to get underway October 3rd with support from The Dirty Nil and The Nude Party in respective markets, plus special guests The Paranoyds, Criminal Hygiene, Wombo, Being Dead and Charles Irwin joining on select dates [see itinerary / admat below]. Having just wrapped a pair of performances at the 2019 Reading & Leeds Festivals, White Reaper will continue their run of UK dates tonight with a performance at London’s Camden Assembly Pub followed by stops at Indian Summer Festival in Glasgow and Electric Picnic in Ireland. This September, they will play both Bourbon & Beyond and Louder Than Life festivals in their hometown, as well as Riot Fest and Ohana Music and Arts Festival. For tickets and more information on White Reaper’s upcoming tour dates, visit www.whitereaperusa.com.
Nurturing arena-sized ambitions, Louisville’s White Reaper remind us that “fun as hell” is a primary purpose of music. Equal parts glam and grit, You Deserve Love finds the band expanding on the songcraft laid down on 2017’s critically acclaimed The World’s Best American Band, which landed on Noisey’s “100 Best Albums of 2017” and Pitchfork’s “20 Best Rock Albums of 2017,” earning an 8.0 album score. Comprised of Tony Esposito (guitar / vocals), Ryan Hater (keyboards), Sam Wilkerson (bass), Nick Wilkerson (drums), and Hunter Thompson (guitar), White Reaper have spent the last two years living on the road, headlining and supporting some of their idols – The Killers, Spoon, and Weezer – while making festival appearances at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits and more.
Aug 27 – London, UK – The Camden Assembly Pub
Aug 29 – Glasgow, UK – Indian Summer Festival
Aug 31 – Stradbally, Ireland – Electric Picnic Music and Arts Festival
Sep 15 – Chicago, IL – Riot Fest
Sep 22 – Louisville, KY – Bourbon & Beyond Festival
Sep 27 – Dana Point, CA – Ohana Music Festival
Sep 29 – Louisville, KY – Louder than Life Festival
Oct 03 – St. Louis, MO – The Firebird <3*
Oct 04 – Des Moines, IA – Vaudeville Mews <3*
Oct 05 – St. Paul, MN – Amsterdam Bar & Grill <3*
Oct 07 – Denver, CO – Larimer Lounge <3*
Oct 08 – Billings, MT – Yellowstone Valley Brewery <3^
Oct 10 – Seattle, WA – The Crocodile <3^
Oct 11 – Vancouver, BC – The Biltmore Ballroom <3^
Oct 13 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge <3^
Oct 15 – Sacramento, CA – Holy Diver <3^
Oct 16 – Berkeley, CA – Cornerstone Berkeley <3^
Oct 17 – Felton, CA – Felton Music Hall <3^
Oct 19 – Los, Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom <3^
Oct 20 – Phoenix, AZ – Valley Bar ^
Oct 22 – Austin, TX – Barracuda ^%
Oct 23 – Dallas, TX – Deep Ellum Art Co ^%
Oct 24 – Memphis, TN – Hi-Tone # 🙂
Oct 26 – Gainesville, FL – High Dive &#
Oct 27 – Atlanta, GA – Masquerade (Hell) &#
Oct 28 – Charlotte, NC – Amo’s Southend &#
Oct 29 – Chattanooga, TN – Songbirds South & #
Oct 31 – Washington, DC – U Street &#
Nov 01 – Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts &#
Nov 02 – Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair &#
Nov 03 – Hamden, CT – The Space &#
Nov 05 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom &#
Nov 07 – Albany, NY – The Hollow &#
Nov 08 – Toronto, ON – Horseshoe Tavern &#
Nov 09 – Detroit, MI – El Club &#
Nov 10 – Columbus, OH – A&R Music Bar &#
Nov 11 – Pittsburgh, PA – Smiling Moose
Nov 23 – Fort Lauderdale, FL – Riptide Festival
& – The Nude Party
* – The Paranoyds
% – Being Dead
^ – Criminal Hygiene
# – Wombo
🙂 – Charles Irwin
PHOTO CREDIT: GRACE LILLASH
