The last time Titus Andronicus released an album was in 2015 when the band introduced us to the sprawling, insanely ambitious The Most Lamentable Tragedy, a rock opera about manic depression. And because Titus is one of the best rock bands going right now, they pulled it off; it was one of our favorite albums of that year. So, it’s exciting news that they’re about to return with a new album, A Productive Cough. Billed as having a “subtler, more spacious approach,” the album finds Titus mastermind Patrick Stickles highlighting the more ballad-oriented side of his project, though with plenty of room for characteristically sprawling, ambitious rockers as well. And, yes, the album features a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone,” in case you doubted the “ambitious” part.
Along with the announcement, we get our first preview of A Productive Cough via its opening track, “Number One (In New York).” It’s a good glimpse at exactly what an album of Titus “ballads” could sound like — which is to say, though it may begin as a spare piano-based track, “Number One” gradually piles on the layers and instrumentation, alongside Stickles’ intensifying vocal, until it feels like it’s going to explode. It has a scope not dissimilar from the most expansive tracks on 2010’s The Monitor, building to a dramatic conclusion as evocative as the finest Titus tracks. It’s also accompanied by a video directed by Ray Concepcion.
Check it out below.
A Productive Cough tracklist:
1 “Number One (In New York)”
2 “Real Talk”
3 “Above the Bodega (Local Business)”
4 “Crass Tattoo”
5 “(I’m) Like a Rolling Stone”
6 “Home Alone”
7 “Mass Transit Madness (Goin’ Loco’)”
The band also announced their “first-ever ‘acoustic’ tour” in support of the album, in which Stickles and pianist Alex Molini will be performing as a duo:
March 7 — Kingston, NY @ BSP Kingston
March 8 — Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
March 9 — Providence, RI @ AS220
March 10 — Burlington, VT @ Arts Riot
March 11 — Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz
March 13 — Toronto, ON @ Great Hall
March 14 — Detroit, MI @ El Club
March 15 — Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
March 16 — Madison, WI @ The Frequency
March 17 — St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
March 18 — Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
March 19 — Denver, CO @ Globe Hall
March 20 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
March 22 — Boise, ID @ Treefort Festival
March 23 — Seattle, WA @ Crocodile
March 24 — Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
March 27 — Sonoma, CA @ Gundlach Bundschu Winery
March 28 — San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
March 29 — Santa Cruz, CA @ Crepe Place
March 31 — Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg Theater
Apr. 2 — San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar
Apr. 3 — Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar
Apr. 6 — Ft. Worth, TX @ Ridglea Room
Apr. 7 — Austin, TX @ Barracuda
Apr. 8 — Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
Apr. 10 — Birmingham, AL @ Saturn
Apr. 11 — Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
Apr. 12 — Durham, NC @ The Pinhook
Apr. 13 — Washington, DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel
Apr. 14 — Philadelphia, PA @ UArts Black Box
Apr. 15 — Brooklyn, NY @ Murmrr Ballroom
A Productive Cough is out 3/2 via Merge. Pre-order it here.
This article originally appeared on Stereogum.