Who says you can’t be anxious all the time and still have fun? This is the question at the forefront of Ron Gallo’s new single “FOREGROUND MUSIC” … which also just so happens to be the name of his forthcoming album. FOREGROUND MUSIC, announced today (Nov. 15) and out March 3, 2023, on Kill Rock Stars, is the garage rocker’s exploration of what it means to figure out life in this day and age, without exploding from panic all the time. With 11 songs, Gallo uses his time to address the people he judges to be causing the problem, letting them know just the extent of his anger. But that is not the whole tone of the record—it also holds a lot of space for those who are bearing the brunt of it all, trying to give them a catchy song to move to that will maybe even make them laugh.
The lead single serves as a prime example, where the listener doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry. It rides in on a wave of guitar fuzz, setting the stage of panic with echoing questions of dread—“Will any of this matter in one year? Did it ever?”—set next to the questions you have to answer to keep your life moving—“What do you want to eat tonight?” The upbeat tone makes you want to dance and try and shake all this fear off your body … or at least live with it, as Gallo sings, “My favorite thing to do is lie awake and panic.” The music video, directed by Ryan Bender and Jordan M. Hahn, is a fitting blend of humor and tears, featuring an elderly woman so entranced by Gallo’s VR world that she fails to realize that her house is being robbed while she stands in the middle of her living room. Immersed in a space that isn’t real, she doesn’t perceive the concrete things being taken from her, when she could have done something to prevent it. A rather fitting metaphor for these times, indeed.
Watch the video for “FOREGROUND MUSIC” below, plus Gallo’s 2018 Paste Studio session, and see the details of his new album and his upcoming tour dates further down.
FOREGROUND MUSIC Tracklist:
01. ENTITLED MAN
02. FOREGROUND MUSIC
03. AT LEAST I’M DANCING
04. VANITY MARCH
05. YUCCA VALLEY MARSHALLS
06. SAN BENEDETTO
07. CAN MY FLOWERS EVEN GROW HERE?
08. BIG TRUCK ENERGY
09. LIFE IS A PRIVILEGE? (INTERLUDE)
10. ANYTHING BUT THIS
11. I LOVE SOMEONE BURIED DEEP INSIDE OF YOU
FOREGROUND MUSIC Art:
Ron Gallo Tour Dates:
November
22 – Ardmore, PA @ @ Ardmore Music Hall – We Live On: Derek Dorsey Benefit (solo show)
January 2023
27 – Calgary, AB @ Big Winter Classic (with Shame, Fucked Up, A. Savage, Holy Fuck, Nick Thune and more)
March 2023
15-19 – Austin, TX @ SXSW
April 2023
05 – Boston, MA @ The Middle East (Upstairs)
06 – Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right (early show)
07 – Washington, DC @ Songbyrd
08 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
11 – Nashville, TN @ Basement East
12 – Chicago, IL @ Schuba’s
13 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups
14 – Lexington, KY @ The Burl
15 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
