New York City’s Sunflower Bean have announced their third studio album, Headful of Sugar, coming May 6 on Mom + Pop. It’s the first full-length from the trio—vocalist and bassist Julia Cumming, guitarist and vocalist Nick Kivlen and drummer Olive Faber—in four years, following 2018’s Twentytwo in Blue. “Who Put You Up to This?,” out now alongside a music video, is our second preview of the album after the October 2021 release of “Baby Don’t Cry.”
Headful of Sugar finds Sunflower Bean “navigating the agony and ecstasy of contemporary American life,” per a press release, and taking nothing for granted along the way. “Tomorrow is not promised, no tour is promised, no popularity is promised, no health or money is promised,” says Cumming in a statement. “Why not make what you want to make on your own terms? Why not make a record that makes you want to dance? Why not make a record that makes you want to scream?” The band did so alongside collaborators Shamir, Suzy Shinn and Jacob Portrait (who mixed the record, and co-produced and co-engineered it alongside Faber).
“Who Put You Up to This?” is a glossy rock track that leads with Cumming’s cooed vocals and a cheery acoustic guitar before upshifting into a slinky psych-rock riff, its midtempo groove punctuated by sledgehammer piano chords. “In another life I was a bitch / In another life I was your bitch / Here’s how it turned out,” sings Cumming, considering the cosmic forces pulling life’s strings, but from a cool, confident remove.
The band say of their new single, “Are you satisfied? Who put you up to do things that you do? Was it your own choice? Questioning your life is the first step to taking the agency to change it. Sometimes you have to let go of who you have been so that you can become who you want to be.”
Sunflower Bean’s King of the Dudes EP was a 2019 standout. They made their full-length debut with 2016’s Human Ceremony.
This spring, the band head out on a North American tour in support of Headful of Sugar, with tickets going on sale this Friday at 10 a.m. local.
Watch the “Who Put You Up to This?” video below, and find Sunflower Bean’s 2016 Daytrotter session and tour dates (newly announced shows in bold) further down, along with the complete details of Headful of Sugar.
Headful of Sugar Tracklist:
01. Who Put You Up To This?
02. In Flight
03. Otherside
04. Roll The Dice
05. Headful of Sugar
06. I Don’t Have Control Sometimes
07. Stand By Me
08. Post Love
09. Baby Don’t Cry
10. Beat The Odds
11. Feel Somebody
Headful of Sugar Art:
Sunflower Bean Tour Dates:
February
24 – South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Showcase Lounge*
25 – Portsmouth, NH @ 3S Artspace*
26 – Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom*
March
04 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar^
05 – Millersville, PA @ Phantom Power^
06 – Pittsburg, PA @ Club Cafe^
08 – Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar^
10 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop^
11 – Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar^
12 – St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway Nightclub^
14 – Austin, TX @ SXSW
15 – Austin, TX @ SXSW
16 – Austin, TX @ SXSW
17 – Austin, TX @ SXSW
19 – Nashville, TN @ Exit/In
20 – Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle
21 – Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall
30 – Cambridge, UK @ Junction 2
31 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
April
01 – Manchester, UK @ Strange Waves Festival
02 – Glasgow, UK @ Stereo
04 – Newcastle upon Tyne, UK @ Newcastle University
05 – Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms
06 – Birmingham, UK @ Mama Roux’s
07 – London, UK @ Electric Ballroom
09 – Bristol, UK @ Thekla
10 – Portsmouth, UK @ The Wedgewood Rooms
11 – Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2
29 – Albany, NY @ Empire Underground
30 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
May
05 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage
06 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes
12 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall
14 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry
19 – Ferndale, MI @ The Loving Touch
20 – Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
21 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line
22 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon
24 – Grand Rapids, MI @The Pyramid Scheme
25 – Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
26 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
June
01 – San Diego, CA @ Music Box SD+
02 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre+
04 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent+
07 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios+
08 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre+
09 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile+
11 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theatre+
(* w/ Empath)
(^ w/ Barrie)
(+ w/ Palehound)
