Dawes Announces New Album ‘Misadventures Of Doomscroller’ & Shares Single

Dawes detailed a new album, Misadventures Of Doomscroller, set for release on July 22 via Rounder Records and previewed with the single “Someone Else’s Café / Doomscroller Tries to Relax.” The Los Angeles-based rockers are also streaming a complete live performance of the album beginning today and available this weekend only via YouTube.

Misadventures Of Doomscroller is the follow up to Dawes’ 2020 LP, Good Luck With Whatever. The band — guitarist Taylor Goldsmith, drummer Griffin Goldsmith, bassist Wylie Gelber and keyboardist Lee Pardini — tapped longtime collaborator Jonathan Wilson (Billy Strings, Father John Misty, Angel Olsen) to produce the new record.

Dawes frontman Taylor Goldsmith detailed Misadventures Of Doomscroller:

We’ve always prided ourselves on being minimalists. With this record, we set out on being MAXIMALISTS. Still a quartet. Still not letting these songs hide behind any tricks or effects. But really letting the songs breathe and stretch and live however they want to. We decided to stop having any regard for short attention spans. Our ambitions go beyond the musical with this one.

We also wanted to honor the traditional length of a vinyl record – 40-45 minutes – but disregard any concern for numbers of tracks. The way Miles or Herbie often did. Documenting the songs is only half of the picture. For this record, they’re also the platform for us to jump off from and get lost in. I think the best way I can say it is – we wanted this record to be less a collection of songs and more a collection of music.

Goldsmith also spoke about the first single and nearly 10-minute opening track, “Someone Else’s Café / Doomscroller Tries to Relax”:

The first half of this song could be about tyrants. But it could also be about anyone who thinks that a little more control is gonna make everything ok. The second half is a response to that developing reality of the first half. The world might be a scary place sometimes but, to some degree, I want to believe I can decide how I respond to it.

Every time a take was completed felt like a major accomplishment. It being 10 minutes really raised the stakes. Didn’t wanna be the guy to mess up in minute 7 or 8 with everyone playing flawlessly up to that point. This whole album, and this song especially, felt a little beyond our comfort zone and I’m really proud of what that’s done to the music. I like to think that you can hear the eye contact, that you can hear us thinking on our feet. It’s already become a top 5er to play live. Happy to finally have it out in the world.

Listen to “Someone Else’s Café / Doomscroller Tries to Relax” and stream the Jonathan Wilson-produced, Caitlin Gerard-directed live performance of the album until Sunday at midnight below:

Dawes is hitting the road this summer with festival plays, a tour supporting The Head And The Heart and more. Check out their dates below: