OSEES have announced their latest albbum, a synth-pop-inspired project entitled Intercepted Message, out August 18th via In the Red. They have also shared the album’s title track as a lead single. Listen to it below.
In a “bio” for the new album, OSEES frontman John Dwyer explained that it’s a “pop record for tired times.” The single — along with its news-inspired music video — supports this theme, drawing on the fatigued energy of politics and society, and channeling it into a blistering blend of punk and electro beeping and booping. In the video, Dwyer serves as the anchor for a dystopian broadcast, and as the world burns down behind his talking head, the weight of the message sinks in. Watch the video below.
From Dwyer’s perspective, OSEES’ new music is intended to create a commonplace of sorts. “Social media toilet scrapers unite!” he wrote for the poetic bio. “Allow your 24 hour news cycle eyes to squint at this smiling abattoir doorman. You can find your place here at long last. All are welcome… Suffering from Politic amnesia? Bored of AI-generated pop slop? Then this one is for you, our friends.” Describing the new, synthy direction of the band’s sound, he wrote: “This is Osees bookend sound. Early grade garage pop meets proto-synth punk suicide-repellant.” Closing the statement off, Dwyer beat taste algorithms to the punch: “For fans of Teutonic synth punk and Thee Oh Sees (who the fuck are they?)”
The announcement of Intercepted Message comes as the band — formerly known as Thee Oh Sees, Oh Sees, etc — is in the midst of their 2023 world tour. Check out the updated list of dates below, and grab your tickets here.
OSEES have also shared a new live album entitled Live at LEVITATION, which was recorded in 2012 and has been released under the name Thee Oh Sees. That record is available on DSPs today, and can be ordered in a special edition colored vinyl format as well. To celebrate the release, the band has commissioned repressings of five of their classic albums: 2009’s Dog Poison, 2013’s Floating Coffin, 2015’s Mutilator Defeated at Last, 2017’s Orc, and 2022’s A Foul Form.
Listen to OSEES’ new single, and check out their new live album Live at LEVITATION below.
Intercepted Message Artwork:
Intercepted Message Tracklist:
01. Stunner
02. Blank Chems
03. Intercepted Message
04. Die Laughing
05. Unusual & Cruel
06. The Fish Needs a Bike
07. Goon
08. Chaos Heart
09. Submerged Building
10. Sleazoid Psycho
11. Always at Night
12. Ladwp Hold
Live at LEVITATION Artwork:
Live at LEVITATION Tracklist:
01. The Dream
02. Devil Again
03. Tidal Wave
04. Enemy Destruct
05. Robber Barons
06. Block of Ice
07. Meat Step Lively
08. Minotaur
OSEES 2023 Tour Dates:
05/18 — Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall
05/19 — Glasgow, UK @ Old Fruit Market
05/22 — Dublin, IE @ Button Factory
05/23 – Dublin, IE @ Button Factory
05/26 — Birmingham, UK @ The Crossing
05/27 — London, UK @ Wide Awake Festival
05/28 — Brighton, UK @ Chalk
05/30 — Bristol, UK @ Marble Factory
05/31 — Leeds, UK @ Brudnell Social Club
06/01 – Leeds, UK @ Brudnell Social Club
06/22 — Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
06/23 — Calgary, AB @ Sled Island Music & Arts Festival
06/25 — Montreal, QC @ Club Soda w/ Hot Garbage and Tha Retail Simp
08/11 – Düdingen, CH @ Bad Bonn
08/12 – Val de Bagnes, CH @ Palp Festival
08/14 – Vienna, AT @ Arena
08/16 – Rottedam, NL @ Maassilo
08/18 – Saint-Malo, FR @ La Route Du Rock
08/19 – Hasselt, BE @ Pukkelpop
08/20 – Gueret, FR @ Check In Party
08/22 – Bordeaux, FR @ Square Dom Bedos
08/23 – Biarritz, FR @ Atabel
08/25 — Málaga, ES @ Canela Party
09/03 — San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
09/04 — San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
09/05 — San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
09/06 — San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
09/08 — Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
09/09 — Seattle, WA @ Neumos
09/10 — Seattle, WA @ Neumos
09/14 — Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
09/15 — Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
09/16 — Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
09/17 — Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
09/18 — Detroit, MI @ El Club
09/20 — Boston, MA @ Royale
09/22 — Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
09/23 — Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
09/25 — Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
09/26 — Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
09/30 – Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas
10/01 – Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas
10/03 — Albuquerque, NM @ Sister Bar