The Armed have released a new album called Perfect Saviors. Stream it via Apple Music or Spotify below.
As the self-described “World’s Greatest Band,” it’s not surprising that The Armed would have some pretty strong words to say about the environment that inspired their next album. “Too much information has made us dumb and confused,” singer Tony Wolski offered in a statement. “Too many ways to connect have inadvertently led to isolation. And too much expectation has forced everyone to become a celebrity. Predictable primal dangers have given way to newer social ones. And the result is a world that is confounding and terrifying — but ultimately still beautiful. We hope this record is exactly all of that, too. Perfect Saviors is our completely unironic, sincere effort to create the biggest, greatest rock album of the 21st century.”
To achieve such a feat, the band enlisted a lengthy list of collaborators, including Julien Baker, Sarah Tudzin, Mark Guiliana, Patrick Shiroishi, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, Troy Van Leeuwen, Eric Avery, and Josh Klinghoffer. Wolski produced the album alongside Ben Chisholm and Van Leeuwen, while Alan Moulder provided mixing.
Lead single “Sport of Form” features Julien Baker and pairs sweetly harmonized vocals with super heavy, EDM-level bass. The accompanying video includes an appearance from Iggy Pop, and you can watch it below.
Of the track, Wolski explained, “There are two types of sport — those of measure and those of form. A sport of measure like basketball, football, or soccer has a point system and a sort of binary path to victory. A sport of form is something like diving, figure skating, or bodybuilding — something with evolving standards and a layer of subjectivity and some sort of critical component.”
The singer continued, “The world that surrounds us is complex, and our lives are truly more akin to a sport of form than one of measure. Yet, so many people see it as exactly the opposite. Lyrically, this song is about the human need to win a game that we’re not even actually playing. Sonically, it is a reflection of that cognitive dissonance through a constant whiplash between beauty and ugliness, severity and tenderness, obscenity and grace.”
This fall, The Armed are heading out on a brief US tour. See the dates below, and grab tickets here. Their last album was 2021’s ULTRAPOP.
Perfect Saviors Artwork:
Perfect Saviors Tracklist:
01. Sport of Measure
02. FKA World
03. Clone
04. Modern Vanity
05. Everything’s Glitter
06. Burned Mind
07. Sport of Form
09. Vatican Under Construction
10. Liar 2
11. In Heaven
12. Public Grieving
The Armed 2023 Tour Dates:
10/19 — Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey ^
10/21 — San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall ^
10/23 — Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall ^
10/24 — Seattle, WA @ Neumos ^
11/16 — Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club *
11/17 — New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
11/18 — Baltimore, MD @ Boston Sound Stage *
12/15 — Detroit, MI @ St. Andrew’s Hall #
12/16 — Chicago, IL @ Metro #
^ = w/ Shutups
* = w/ SPACED
# = w/ Model/Actriz
