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The Dodos celebrated the 10 year anniversary of their breakout sophomore record Visiter in 2018, and Certainty Waves - which Long calls the band's "midlife crisis record" - finds The Dodos going back to that album's roots, embracing the unlimited possibilities of a time when there were no preconceptions of what the band should sound like. The duo had to forget everything they knew about what it meant to be the Dodos -- and quit worrying about the 'right' acoustic guitar to drum ratio -- and what began to emerge from the band's rehearsals felt new and different, yet somehow still fundamentally "Dodos." And so, Certainty Waves was born. Pre-save the album on DSPs HERE and pre-order the album HERE.
Following the release of Individ in 2015, The Dodos decided to take a breather. Kroeber went back to work, while Long stepped away from music after the death of his father and birth of his first child. For Long, this break did not last, and he returned in 2018 with his synth-based debut solo project FAN, inspired by synths his father had left him. Simultaneously, he continued writing songs for The Dodos, but had hit a wall. "I was a little bit lost in terms of which direction the record should go. We had a handful of recordings, nuggets, and song potentials, but they weren't songs yet, and months had passed without any real progress. I was kind of debating whether to drop the kitchen sink, simplify things, or just leave them be."
To celebrate one decade of Visiter, The Dodos began to prepare for a hometown show in San Francisco where they'd perform the album in its entirety. While getting reacquainted with the album and listening to it for the first time in eight years, Long had an epiphany. "It completely surprised me how much electric guitar is on that record," reveals Long. "The narrative had always been we were just acoustic guitar and drums." This ostensibly simple observation was pivotal in unlocking a new approach to the material that would become Certainty Waves.
The title Certainty Waves reflects the idea that what once seemed so certain will likely prove not to be in the future. That it was only a wave passing by. "Certainty Waves is our midlife crisis record," says Long. "Who we thought we were, how mistaken we were, how an interference in the trajectory can flip your understanding of what came before."
North American Tour Dates - purchase tickets HERE.
10/12 - San Francisco, CA @ Independent #
10/13 - Los Angeles, CA @ Moroccan Lounge #
10/15 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah #
10/23 - Bellingham, WA @ The Wild Buffalo #
10/24 - Vancouver, BC @ Venue #
10/25 - Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern #
10/26 - Portland, OR @ Star Theater #
11/01 - Kingston, NY @ BSP Lounge +
11/02 - Somerville, MA @ Thunder Road %
11/03 - Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom +
11/04 - Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz +
11/05 - Ottawa, ON @ 27 Club +
11/06 - Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern +
11/07 - Detroit, MI @ Third Man Records +
11/08 - Grand Rapids, MI @ The Pyramid Scheme +
11/09 - Green Bay, WI @ Lyric Room +
11/10 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry +
11/11 - Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall +
11/13 - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern +
11/14 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's +
11/15 - Washington, DC @ Rock & Roll Hotel +
11/16 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom %
# w/ Prism Tats
+ w/ Palehound (duo)
% w/ Wild Pink
Photo Credit: Andy De Santis
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