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Jul 19, 2018 By Christopher Roberts We Were Promised Jetpacks

Scotland’s We Were Promised Jetpacks have announced a new album, The More I Sleep the Less I Dream, and shared its first single, “Hanging In.” The More I Sleep the Less I Dream is due out September 14. In the U.S. it will be self-released by the band and Big Scary Monsters will be releasing it in Europe. Last week the band announced some new tour dates and hinted that an album was on the way. Check out “Hanging In” below, followed by the album’s tracklist and cover art, as well as the tour dates.

The album was recorded in early 2018 with producer Jonathan Low (The National, Sufjan Stevens, Kurt Vile, The War on Drugs) at Minor Street in Philadelphia and Long Pond in New York’s Hudson Valley. Prior to that it took them awhile to write the right songs.

“The first batch of songs were written for the wrong reason,” guitarist Michael Palmer explains in a press release. “We put a lot of pressure on ourselves and ended up writing a certain kind of song. Focusing more on choruses and structure, trying to simplify everything.”

Vocalist/guitarist Adam Thompson adds: “We scrapped probably a full album. Something just felt off about them. They didn’t work at all.”

The band regrouped and rewrote, with almost title track “The More I Sleep, The Less I Dream.” being one of the first songs to truly work. “All of the songs we scrapped were very calculated, whereas this song just flowed. It was instinctive. That gave us the confidence to believe that we could actually do this, just the four of us,” says Palmer in the press release. “After that everything else just clicked.”

The press release describes the album as such: “The More I Sleep The Less I Dream marks a new chapter in We Were Promised Jetpacks’ career. It’s about going back to the heart of who they are, a high school band that never stopped. It’s about four people who have grown up together, making a conscious choice to keep writing music and seeing where that takes them.”

The band’s last full-length was 2014’s Unraveling. A previous press release laid out what the band has been up to since then: “Having spent 10 years almost consistently writing and touring, it was time to decamp home to Scotland and take a breath. They reverted back to their original four members and dealt with several behind the scenes changes. They celebrated a few marriages and tried to remember who they were when not on the road.”

Also read our 2014 interview with the band or the guest blog post guitarist Michael Palmer wrote for us in 2014 on professional wrestling.

The More I Sleep the Less I Dream Tracklist:

1. Impossible
2. In Light
3. Someone Else’s Problem
4. Make It Easier
5. Hanging In
6. Improbable
7. When I Know More
8. Not Wanted
9. Repeating Patterns
10. The More I Sleep, The Less I Dream.

We Were Promised Jetpacks Tour Dates:

09.19 - Portland, ME @ Portland City Music Hall
09.20 - Porstmouth, NH @ 3S Artspace
09.21 - Montreal, QC @ Bar Le “Ritz” P.D.B.
09.22 - Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
09.23 - Ann Arbor, MI @ Blind Pig
09.25 - Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
09.26 - Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
09.27 - Madison, WI @ Majestic Theater
09.28 - St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
09.29 - Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium
10.01 - Billings, MT @ The Pub Station
10.02 - Spokane, WA @ The Bartlett
10.03 - Seattle, WA @ Neumos
10.04 - Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
10.05 - Bellingham, WA @ The Wild Buffalo
10.06 - Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall
10.08 - Chico, CA @ The Big Room
10.09 - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
10.11 - Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre
10.12 - San Diego, CA @ Irenic
10.13 - Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom
10.15 - Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
10.16 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk
10.17 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
10.18 - New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues - The Parish
10.19 - Chattanooga, TN @ Songbirds
10.20 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
10.22 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
10.23 - Washington, DC @ 930 Club
10.24 - Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes
10.26 - Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
10.27 - Philadelphia, PA @ Foundry
10.28 - Lancaster, PA @ Chameleon Club
10.29 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
11.14 - Aberdeen, UK @ The Lemon Tree
11.15 - Glasgow, UK @ Saint Luke’s
11.18 - Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
11.19 - Manchester, UK @ The Deaf Institute
11.21 - London, UK @ Bush Hall
11.22 - Luxembourg City, LU @ Rotondes
11.23 - Hamburg, DE @ Molotow
11.24 - Berlin, DE @ Lido
11.26 - Vienna, AT @ Chelsea
11.27 - Graz, AT @ Postgarage
11.28 - Munich, DE @ Ampere
11.29 - Heidelberg, DE @ Karlstorbahnhof
11.30 - Cologne, DE @ Luxor
12.1 - Amsterdam, NL @ Bitterzoet

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