Called “a smart, sexy think piece on queer romance in a world on fire,” by Paste, Katy Kirby’s latest album Blue Raspberry traces the crescendo and collapse of new love, savoring each gleaming shard of rock candy and broken glass along the way. Originally released in January, Kirby is now announcing a deluxe version that will contain two new songs, coming out on July 12th via ANTI-. Out today is ‘Headlights‘, a song that dissects the seemingly benign issues of everyday life, or as one lyric puts it: “a ticking time bomb with a Tweety Bird watch face”.
“‘Headlights’ isn’t as open-hearted as any of the songs that ended up on Blue Raspberry,” Kirby explains. “We could call it an ode to the cumulative, low-level suffering that accompanies all human life 😉 Or we could just say that it’s kind of a bratty little ballad about being fucking tired, you know?”
Blue Raspberry follows Kirby’s acclaimed debut album Cool Dry Place, which was released in February of 2021. While the songs on that record unfold amidst Kirby finding her voice, Blue Raspberry is a polished and confident second album that deepens the questions that bubbled through Cool Dry Place about how people can reach each other despite all the hazard zones where human connection caves in.
With a successful US headlining run and some dates with the Mountain Goats under her belt, Kirby will return to the road this summer with a European headline tour that starts next week and a new run of US shows beginning in late July; all upcoming dates are listed below.
1. Redemption Arc
2. Fences
3. Cubic Zirconia
4. Hand to Hand
5. Wait Listen
6. Drop Dead
7. Party of the Century
8. Alexandria
9. Salt Crystal
10. Blue Raspberry
11. Table
12. Headlights (bonus)
13. Naperville (bonus
Pre-order Blue Raspberry (deluxe) here: https://katykirby.ffm.to/blueraspberrydlx
UK/ EU Tour dates:
Jun 4th | Hamburg, DE – Bahnhof Pauli
Jun 5th | Berlin, DE – Kantine am Berghain
Jun 7th | Hilvarenbeek, NL – Best Kept Secret
Jun 8th | Brussels, BE – Botanique
Jun 9th | Paris, FR – Badaboum
Jun 11th | London, UK – Moth Club
Jun 12th | Manchester, UK – Yes (Basement)
Jun 13th | Glasgow, UK – Broadcast
Jun 14th | Leeds, UK – Brudenell Social Club
Jun 15th | Brighton, UK – DUST
Jun 23rd | Greenfield MA – Green River Festival
Jul 25th | Portsmouth NH – The Press Room *
Jul 26th | Boston MA – Brighton Music Hall *
Jul 27th | Brattleboro VT – The Stone Church *
Jul 28th | Troy NY – No Fun *
Jul 30th | Toronto ON – Velvet Underground *
Jul 31st | Kalamazoo MI – Bell’s Eccentric Cafe *
Aug 1st | Milwaukee WI – Cactus Club *
Aug 2nd | St. Louis MO – Off Broadway *
Aug 4th | St. Charles IA – Hinterland Music Festival
Aug 5th | Urbana IL – Gallery Art Bar *
Aug 6th | Bloomington IN – The Bishop *
Aug 7th | Columbus OH – Ace of Cups *
Aug 8th | Cleveland OH – Mahall’s *
* with support from Mei Semones
Photo credit: Tonje Thilesen