MURDER BY DEATH AND LAURA JANE GRACE & THE DEVOURING MOTHERS ANNOUNCE CO-HEADLINE TOUR OF AUSTRALIA

Louisville KY indie-Americana quintet Murder By Death and Laura Jane Grace & The Devouring Mothers have today announced a co-headline tour of Australia. This will be Murder By Death’s first ever tour of Australia with the band promoting their latest studio album The Other Shore, which is out now on Bloodshot Records. Laura Jane Grace has been a semi-regular visitor to Australia with her band Against Me! Laura Jane Grace & The Devouring Mothers will be promoting their latest release Bought To Rot, which is out now on Bloodshot Records. Special guest on this co-headline tour will be Brisbane acoustic/folk/country punk act Emmy Hour.

Murder By Death’s eighth full-length album The Other Shore is a space-western about a ravaged Earth. Recorded at La La Land in Louisville by Kevin Ratterman (My Morning Jacket, White Reaper, Ray LaMontagne, Basia Bulat) and Anne Gauthier, The Other Shore sonically captures the mood of two lovers choosing separate paths, one who stays on Earth and one who leaves it. As the album and voyage of The Other Shore progress, the atmosphere transitions from earthy to cosmic, sober to festive—from folksy Midwestern indie rock (“Stone”) and piano-laden devil-on-one-shoulder/ angel-on-the-other Leonard Cohen-style balladry (“Only Time”), to buoyant new wave recalling The Cure (“Bloom”) and celebratory jangly singalongs (“I Have Arrived”).

The Other Shore pits quantifiable reality against incalculable newness. The duality of big and broad vs. microscopic and narrow is ever-present, especially as the group explores untapped genres, dynamic and emotional touches, intersecting and introspective storylines, and remote edges of the galaxy. Welcome: After nearly 20 years, thousands of performances around the world, and eight albums—you’ve landed on your new Murder By Death.

“Murder by Death have quietly proven themselves to be the best in the game when it comes to long form yarn-spinning…Every album feels less like a studio recording and more like a well-worn Cormac McCarthy book.” —NOISEY

To say musician, author and activist Laura Jane Grace has had a defiant career would be the understatement of the year. Whether being accused of leaving the DIY punk scene to pursue a major label career over a decade ago, or courageously challenging people’s conceptions of gender identity with a bombshell Rolling Stone article, Grace has remained a daring and influential cultural figure in her over 20+ years of creating dynamic art across various mediums. Sure, she’s bound to worry some fans with her decision to press pause on Against Me! to release a more intimate singer-songwriter leaning solo album under the name Laura Jane Grace & the Devouring Mothers, but her artistic motivation cast her determination in steel. “In the back of my head I was thinking, ‘fuck all of you, I’m going to do this anyway,’” she says with a smile.

With this conviction came liberation, because few expectations equals total freedom. Indeed on the record’s opening cut, “China Beach,” Grace delivers a bold, lip-curled statement of intent: “Learn to trust yourself, no one else matters / Respect the source and always welcome failure.” And it’s in this spirit—with the help of Against Me! drummer Atom Willard and long-term AM! producer Marc Jacob Hudson on bass—that Bought to Rot, the debut album from Laura Jane Grace & the Devouring Mothers, came into existence.

Bought to Rot was written largely in motion—on tour, in Spain, Australia, Amsterdam hotel rooms, and some at home in Chicago. It’s a record scorched with honesty, unapologetically confessional, capturing many moments snipped from Grace’s life and stitched together in song. Although it’s a step and a twist away from Against Me!’s sonic blueprint, there’s still a kinetic punk energy that vibrates throughout. 

“Bought to Rot’ ranges from screaming blasts of punk to poppier tracks reminiscent of Ted Leo’s propulsive tunes to fuzzy, gritty rock that picks up where The Strokes left off on ‘Is This It.’” —THE NEW YORK TIMES
 

RESIST PRESENTS
 
MURDER BY DEATH / LAURA JANE GRACE & THE DEVOURING MOTHERS
CO-HEADLINE AUSTRALIAN TOUR.
SPECIAL GUEST ON ALL SHOWS EMMY HOUR.

 
JUNE 14 – CROWBAR – BRISBANE
TICKETS VIA OZTIX
 JUNE 15 – CROWBAR – SYDNEY
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JUNE 16 – HAMILTON STATION  – NEWCASTLE
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JUNE 18 – THE BASEMENT  – CANBERRA
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JUNE 20 – THE BOSTON – PERTH
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JUNE 21 – ENIGMA – ADELAIDE
TICKETS VIA MOSHTIX
JUNE 22 – NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB – MELBOURNE
TICKETS VIA WWW.NORTHCOTESOCIALCLUB.COM

TICKETS ON SALE 9AM THURSDAY MARCH 21
TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM
WWW.MURDERBYDEATH.COM