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MERGE RECORDS DEBUT CONTINUE AS A GUEST
OUT NOW TO CRITICAL ACCLAIM EAST COAST TOUR KICKS OFF APRIL 19
Stream/purchase the album HERE
The band is touring in support of their Merge Records debut, Continue as a Guest, which is out now.
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The record continues to be the subject of extensive critical praise:
“Over the course of their 20-plus-year career, the New Pornographers have often specialized in catchy ambiguity. If leader Carl Newman was just a machine cranking out power-pop tunes, it would get boring. But there’s also a lot of mixed emotions going on under the surface of their studiously nuanced pop-rock formalism—like if Cheap Trick was as quick-witted as Steely Dan, or the Romantics were as thoughtful as R.E.M.”—Rolling Stone
“The New Pornographers are a massive unit bursting with unique and intersecting talents…the band’s ninth album serves another helping of their signature dish.”—New York Magazine
“[The New Pornographers] make catchy, sophisticated alternate-universe hits.”— Stereogum
“The New Pornographers have been slinging pristine indie-pop hooks for over
two decades now.”—Billboard “Continue as a Guest is one of The New Pornographers’ most lush albums,
thick with synthesizers and horns and harmonies…their unique chemistry is as distinct and appealing as ever.”—Brooklyn Vegan “a welcome return from [the] indie-pop legends”—Cool Hunting
“Thematically, the record is concerned with what many songwriters have
grappled with over the last several years: the malaise of a COVID-era world, isolation, societal collapse, etc. But in typical New Pornographers fashion, the majority of the record’s sound is unabashedly joyous. It’s this contradictory nature that has always made the band compelling.”—Under the Radar “The new album absolutely bristles with a freshness not many bands two decades into their career are able to achieve. Their music remains effervescent, interesting and carries itself with the kind of swagger that only true experience can bring.”—Northern Transmissions
The album tackles themes of isolation and collapse, following the ambivalence of day-to-day life during the pandemic and the endless pitfalls of living online. But frontperson A.C. Newman says that Continue as a Guest’s title track also addresses the continually rolling concerns that come with being in a band for so long. “The idea of continuing as a guest felt very apropos to the times,” he explains. “Feeling out of place in culture, in society—not feeling like a part of any zeitgeist, but happy to be separate and living your simple life, your long fade-out. Find your own little nowhere, find some space to fall apart, continue as a guest.”
Newman began work on Continue as a Guest at his Woodstock, New York home over the course of a year, after the band had just finished touring behind 2019’s In The Morse Code Of Brake Lights. During the writing and recording process, he discovered new lyrical, artistic and sonic approaches experimenting with his own vocal register.
The 10-track record is produced by Newman and features compatriots Neko Case, Kathryn Calder, John Collins, Todd Fancey and Joe Seiders as well as contributions from saxophonist Zach Djanikian and co-writes from Dan Bejar (Destroyer) and Sadie Dupuis (Speedy Ortiz, Sad13).
The New Pornographers have previously released eight studio albums, including their classic debut, Mass Romantic, reissued in 2021 to celebrate the 21st anniversary of its premiere. Their latest, In The Morse Code Of Brake Lights, debuted at #2 on the Billboard Alternative Chart, #6 on the Billboard Rock Chart and #15 on the Billboard Album Chart. It was hailed as “infectious” by NPR, while Rolling Stone praised “the Canadian power-pop crew keeps cranking out songs where the hooks-per-minute ratio is almost unseemly.”
 Album art credit: Amy Casey
CONTINUE AS A GUEST TRACKLIST
1. Really Really Light
2. Pontius Pilate’s Home Movies
3. Cat and Mouse with the Light
4. Last and Beautiful
5. Continue as a Guest
6. Bottle Episodes
7. Marie and the Undersea
8. Angelcover
9. Firework in the Falling Snow
10. Wish Automatic Suite
TOUR DATES
April 19—Asheville, NC—Salvage Station*
April 20—Atlanta, GA—Variety Playhouse*
April 21—New Orleans, LA—Tipitina’s*
April 22—Houston, TX—White Oak Music Hall*
April 23—Dallas, TX—Studio at The Factory*
April 25—Austin, TX—Paramount*
April 26—Oklahoma City, OK—Tower Theatre*
April 27—St. Louis, MO—Sheldon Concert Hall*
April 28—Omaha, NE—The Waiting Room*
April 29—Kansas City, MO—The Truman*
April 30—Denver, CO—Gothic Theatre*
May 3—St. Paul, MN—The Fitzgerald*
May 4—Milwaukee, WI—Turner Hall*
May 5—Chicago, IL—Thalia Hall [SOLD OUT]*
May 6—Chicago, IL— Thalia Hall [SOLD OUT]*
May 8—Cincinnati, OH—Memorial Hall*
May 9—Columbus, OH—Newport Music Hall*
May 11—Detroit, MI—El Club [SOLD OUT]*
May 12—Toronto, ON—Danforth*
May 13—Burlington, VT—Higher Ground Ballroom*
May 14—Norwalk, CT— Wall Street Theater*
May 15—Boston, MA—Royale*
May 17—New York, NY—Brooklyn Steel*
May 18—Philadelphia, PA—Union Transfer*
May 19—Washington, DC—9:30 Club [SOLD OUT]*
May 20—Washington, DC—9:30 Club*
May 21—Saxapahaw, NC—Haw River Ballroom [SOLD OUT]*
November 7—San Diego, CA—Music Box†
November 8—Los Angeles, CA—The Fonda Theatre†
November 10—San Francisco, CA—Bimbo’s 365 Club†
November 11—Sacramento, CA—Ace of Spades†
November 12—Eugene, OR—McDonald Theatre†
November 14—Vancouver, BC—The Commodore† November 15—Portland, OR—Revolution Hall† November 16—Seattle, WA—The Showbox†
November 17—Boise, ID—Knitting Factory†
November 18—Salt Lake City, UT—The Commonwealth†
*with Wild Pink
†with Finom < 
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