The Hold Steady Announce New Record: Heaven Is Whenever, Due in May

Judson Baker

​Here's to ending the longest drought between Hold Steady albums, ever. In the two years since the Brooklyn band released the hardcore revival moment Stay Positive, the former five piece toured endlessly and, at the tail end of last month, bade farewell to keyboardist and chief moustache guy Franz Nicolay. They are leaner and meaner and they have a new record, the band announced today: Heaven Is Whenever, due May 4th. The details so far are promising--more guitar, less keys, and lyrics dedicated to the endlessly (lapsed) Catholic pursuit of "embracing suffering and finding reward in our everyday lives." The record has "a bit more open space," according to Craig Finn, and is "less anthemic and more complex"--which we'll believe when we see it, since the Hold Steady are good at many things but being less anthemic generally isn't one of them. The tracklisting and frustratingly non-NYC tourdates are below:

Heaven Is Whenever, out May 4:

1 The Sweet Part of the City
2 Soft in the Center
3 The Weekenders
4 The Smidge
5 Rock Problems
6 We Can Get Together
7 Hurricane J
8 Barely Breathing
9 Our Whole Lives
10 A Slight Discomfort

On Tour:

April 2nd Ardsley, NY LIFE the place to be
April 3rd New Haven, CT Toad's Place
April 5th South Burlington, VT Higher Ground
April 6th Northampton, MA Pearl Street
April 7th Albany, NY Linda Norris Auditorium
April 8th Woodstock, NY Bearsville Theater
April 9th Jermyn, PA Eleanor Rigby's
April 10th Syracuse, NY The Westcott Theater
April 12th Rochester, NY The Club at Water Street Music Hall
April 13th Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom
April 14th Pittsburgh, PA Diesel Club Lounge
April 15th Morgantown, WV 123 Pleasant St.
April 16th Harrisburg, PA Appalachian Brewing Company
May 5th Los Angeles, CA El Rey Theatre
May 6th San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
May 29th George, WA Sasquatch
June 12th Newport, Isle of Wight Isle of Wight Festival
June 14th Paris, FR Fleche D'Or
June 21st Amsterdam, NL Melkeg
June 22nd London. UK HMV Forum
Jun 26th Manchester, UK Academy 2

More info, as always, at the Hold Steady's own site.