Japandroids Going Out With Final Album ‘Fate & Alcohol’

Japandroids confirmed their final album, Fate & Alcohol, due out on October 18 via ANTI- Records. Accompanying the announcement, guitarist Brian King and drummer Dave Prowse released the single, “Chicago.”

Japandroids fourth and final album, Fate & Alcohol, follows the duo’s 2009 debut Post-Nothing, 2012’s Celebration Rock and 2017’s Near to the Wild Heart of Life. The band recorded the 10-track LP in Vancouver with longtime collaborator Jesse Gander.

Brian King detailed Japandroids’ swan song.

“On our last record we wanted to broaden the definition of a Japandroids song,” he said, “and purposely left our demos quite open and malleable so that we had more flexibility to experiment in the studio. At the time, this approach was new and exciting, and inspired us to be bolder, to take more chances. We were aiming for a more cinematic take on our signature sound. This time, we made certain that every song ripped in our jam space before Jesse ever heard it. If you listen to our first demo of ‘Chicago,’ it’s obviously much rougher than what you hear on record, but it’s all there. Even on a blown-out iPhone recording, the energy was obvious, and the feeling cut through loud and clear.”

“I don’t think we’re the most technically proficient band in the world,” Dave Prowse added. “And we’re not the most original-sounding or challenging band in the world. But we’ve always put a lot of passion into what we do, and I think that’s resonated with a lot of people. And I’m really grateful that we could be that band for people, in the same way that so many bands were for us.”

Some of Japandroids’ influences seem to be baked into Fate & Alcohol song titles such as “A Gaslight Anthem” and “Positively 34th Street.” Preview Japandroids final record Fate & Alcohol with “Chicago” below: