Yeah Yeah Yeahs shared a new video for ‘Blacktop’ and announced a string of tour dates across the US and Europe.
Karen O said of the track: “’Blacktop’ stuck out to me early on, the demo was very stripped down instrumentally and emotionally. It was a step towards what radical closeness feels like after a long separation. Each record has one of these diamonds in the rough that just feels like flying to me.”
The video, which was filmed by David Black, can be seen below.
“It felt right to keep the video as stripped down and dare I say beautiful in its naïveté. David Black put us in front of his 70s analogue video camera with the intention to pull stills for band shots,” Karen O continues. “He had me sing to ‘Blacktop’ before I had even memorized the lyrics, I thought I knew the song by heart but it felt like an introduction, like meeting it for the first time.”
“It wasn’t intended to end up as a video and as a return to the earliest visuals from the record it completes a circle, we’re so happy we have it, a simple layered performance for a deceptively simple song. We hope you enjoy.”
The tour will kick off in Washington DC on 3rd May and will run through until late August. It includes an appearance at the Boston Calling Music Festival, a show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre and the band’s already announced date at All Points East in London’s Victoria Park on 25th August.
The dates read:
MAY
3 – Washington, DC – The Anthem
5 – Atlanta, GA – Shaky Knees Music Festival
7 – Houston, TX – 713 Music Hall
9 – Irving, TX – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
12 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Block Party
13 – Pasadena, CA – Just Like Heaven
26 – Allston, MA – Boston Calling Music Festival
JUNE
1 – Chicago, IL – Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
3 – Minneapolis, MN – Armory
5 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre
7 – Redmond, WA – Marymoor Live
8 – Troutdale, OR – McMenamins Edgefield
10 – Berkeley, CA – The Greek Theatre
JULY
28-30 – Yuzawa, JP – Fuji Rock Festival
AUGUST
25 – London, England – All Points East
26 – Paris, France – Rock en Seine
28 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso
29 – Berlin, Germany – Columbiahalle