On "Tsunami," premiering above, Told Slant mastermind Felix Walworth sings about a bad day. I want someone to grab my face/ tuck my hair behind my ears and say/ isn’t this silly and aren’t you beautiful? Walworth's usual shuddering timbre swims around a loose banjo melody and lots of empty space. There's a slow, sad monotony to the sound—a vibe that suits the aimless homemade video that's debuting alongside the track.
That last question—isn’t this silly and aren’t you beautiful?—is repeated a lot; Told Slant songs tend to have mantras, and this one's no exception. The line is sung by Walworth, but also by friends and collaborators: Harmony and Cleo from Girlpool, Gabrielle Smith from Eskimeaux, and Bellows' Oliver Kalb. They all pop up in the video too.
"Tsunami is a song about recognizing what you need and what you're missing," Walworth told The FADER in an email. "It's also a song about asking the people you love, your immediate environment, and the ideas and possibilities of this world to create some meaning for you where you can't create it on your own. When no one will write a love song for you, you have to do it yourself." Going By drops June 16 on Double Double Whammy.
Told Slant tour dates:
5/20 Burlington, VT @ Signal Kitchen *
5/21 Montreal, QC @ Casa Del Popolo *
5/22 Toronto, ON @ Hard Luck *
5/24 Detroit, MI @ Majestic Cafe *
5/25 DeKalb, IL @ The House Cafe *
5/26 Burnsville, MN @ The Garage *
5/27 Omaha, NE @ Milk Run *
5/28 Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge *
5/29 Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court *
5/31 Seattle, WA @ The Vera Project *
6/1 Portland, OR @ The Analog *
6/2 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill *
6/3 Fresno, CA @ Mia Cuppa Caffe *
6/4 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo / Echoplex *
6/5 San Diego, CA @ The Che Cafe *
6/6 Phoenix, AZ @ The Rebel Lounge *
6/8 Houston, TX @ Walter's Downtown *
6/9 Austin, TX @ The Sidewinder *
6/10 Dallas, TX @ Club Dada *
6/11 Oklahoma City, OK @ 89th Street Collective *
6/12 St. Louis, MO @ The Demo *
6/13 Bloomington, IN @ The Void *
6/14 Pittsburgh, PA @ Cattivo *
6/17 Brooklyn, NY @ Shea Stadium #
6/30 Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar ^
7/1 Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter ^
7/2 Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle ^
7/3 Atlanta, GA @ The Drunken Unicorn ^
7/5 Orlando, FL @ BackBooth ^
7/6 Lake Worth, FL @ Propaganda ^
7/7 Tampa, FL @ Epic Problem ^
7/8 Birmingham, AL @ Desert Island Supply Company (DISCO) ^
7/9 Nashville, TN @ The End ^
7/10 Columbus, OH @ Double Happiness ^
7/12 Lakewood, OH @ Mahall's ^
7/13 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *^
7/14 Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair *^
7/15 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom *^
* w/ The Hotelier & Loone
^ w/ The Hotelier & Bellows
# Record Release Show w/ Crying, Attic Abasement & Harmony Tividad