South London rockers shame have announced their third album, Food for Worms, coming Feb. 24, 2023, on Dead Oceans. Lead single and album opener “Fingers of Steel” is out now alongside a music video.
Shame frontman Charlie Steen describes the band’s Drunk Tank Pink follow-up as “the Lamborghini of shame records,” while a press release says the album, produced by Flood (Nick Cave, U2, PJ Harvey), “marks a sonic departure from anything they’ve done before, and—for the first time—the band are not delving inwards, but seeking to capture the world around them.” Steen says of this shift in focus, “I don’t think you can be in your own head forever. It’s weird, isn’t it? Popular music is about love, heartbreak, or yourself. There isn’t much about your mates.”
On “Fingers of Steel,” Steen and company pair this new perspective with a fresh sense of purpose and restraint. The brute force post-punk of their 2018 debut Songs of Praise is gone, replaced by more clear-eyed precision and complex instrumentation. A distant piano is soon joined by staccato guitar and backing vocals, as Steen observes an avatar of our modern plight: Alone, indoors, days devoid of meaningful connection, chasing fake validation online—always wanting, never fulfilled. “Well, this time you feel that you’ve been found / But when you look there’s no one around,” shame sing in unison, their singalong punctuated with spidery riffs. Looming synths cast a shadow over the song halfway in, like the sun going down at the end of an already-dark day. An explosive solo races like an anxious mind, shortly before the song drifts to an abrupt end.
Steen says of the “Fingers of Steel” music video, “Self-obsession, social media flagellation and death can all be seen in this Oscar-nominated performance. No one’s ever done a video like this before and when you watch it, you’ll see why. Think Casablanca, but in color, and better.”
shame have announced an international headlining tour in support of Food for Worms, their biggest to date. Their run kicks off in Dublin, Ireland, on March 1, 2023, spending March and April in the U.K. and E.U. before heading to North America in May and into early June, stopping in Brooklyn, Philadelphia and Chicago before concluding (at least for now) with a June 4 show in New Orleans.
Watch the “Fingers of Steel” video (dir. James Humby) and see the details of Food for Worms below.
Food for Worms Tracklist:
01. Fingers Of Steel
02. Six-Pack
03. Yankees
04. Alibis
05. Adderall
06. Orchid
07. The Fall of Paul
08. Burning By Design
09. Different Person
10. All The People
Food for Worms Art:
shame 2023 Tour Dates:
March
01 – Dublin, IE @ Button Factory
03 – Glasgow, UK @ SWG3
04 – Newcastle, UK @ Boiler Shop
05 – Leeds, UK @ Stylus
07 – Sheffield, UK @ Leadmill
08 – Liverpool, UK @ Invisible Wind Factory
09 – Bristol, UK @ SWX
11 – Manchester, UK @ New Century Hall
12 – Cardiff, UK @ Tramshed
14 – Nantes, FR @ Stereolux
15 – Paris, FR @ Cabaret Sauvage
16 – Bordeaux, FR @ Rock School Barbey
18 – Lisbon, PT @ LAV
19 – Madrid, ES @ Nazca
20 – Barcelona, ES @ La 2 de Apolo
22 – Nimes, FR @ Paloma
23 – Milan, IT @ Magnolia
24 – Zurich, CH @ Plaza
26 – Munich, DE @ Technikum
27 – Berlin, DE @ Astra
28 – Hamburg, DE @ Markthalle
30 – Oslo, NO @ Vulkan
31 – Stockholm, SE @ Debaser
April
01 – Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA
03 – Brussels, BE @ AB
04 – Cologne, DE @ Floria
06 – Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg
28 – London, UK @ Brixton Academy
May
10 – Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall
12 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
13 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
14 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
16 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
18 – Montréal, QC @ Foufounes Électriques
19 – Ottawa, ON @ Club SAW
20 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
22 – Kalamazoo, MI @ Bell’s Eccentric Cafe
24 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
26 – St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway
27 – Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck
28 – Fayetteville, AR @ George’s Majestic Lounge
30 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
June
2 – Austin, TX @ The Scoot Inn
3 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
4 – New Orleans, LA @ Toulouse Theatre
