Lord Huron – the project of Los Angeles-based songwriter, musician and visual artist Ben Schneider — announces The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1, their new album out July 18th via Mercury Records, along with the new single, “Looking Back.”
The band began teasing the new album over the last few months with singles/videos, “Who Laughs Last” and “Nothing I Need,” which is currently in the Top 10 at Adult Alternative radio.
The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1, Lord Huron’s fifth album, was written and co-produced by Schneider. Alongside Schneider are his band members Tom Renaud, Mark Barry and Miguel Briseño, and a host of collaborators, including actress Kristen Stewart (on “Who Laughs Last“) and Blonde Redhead’s Kazu Makino (on “Fire Eternal”). The album title references the mysterious machine featured on the cover art. Schneider asks: “What if you could choose your fate like choosing a song on a jukebox? What if your finger slipped and you got the B-side instead? What if you misunderstood the meaning of the dang song to begin with?”
Lord Huron’s most recent release “Looking Back” also serves as the album’s magnetic opener. Schneider’s voice glows over misty instrumentation: shuffling guitar, ethereal harp, and luminous cello. There’s an eerie throughline in his lyrics: “Something changed the day you left and I’ll never know just what // I’ll spend my whole life looking up and wondering who I am // Something tells me you and I will never meet again // Gonna see if I can live outside the lines of my body and mind.”
Expanding on the song’s theme, Schneider notes, “The weight of your past can distort your present and future, the way massive celestial objects warp the fabric of the universe. Like a bowling ball on a trampoline. This song wonders if it’s possible to let go, or if looking back is a fundamental law of existence.”
Lord Huron first made a name for themselves in 2012 with their debut album Lonesome Dreams. Strange Trails followed shortly after featuring the multi-platinum single “The Night We Met,” now one of Spotify’s Top 30 streamed songs of all time. In 2018, Lord Huron earned widespread critical acclaim with Vide Noir, a cinematic collection of pensive, provocative, and powerful rock, earning the band their first Top 5 debut on the Billboard 200 chart. Along with the follow up, 2021’s Long Lost, the albums garnered acclaim from NPR, TIME, Los Angeles Times, SPIN, Stereogum, Wall Street Journal, and more, who praised the immersive world Lord Huron created and its companion four-part live event Alive From Whispering Pines.
Later this month, Lord Huron kicks off an entirely sold-out spring tour in celebration of the 10th anniversary of their beloved album Strange Trails. Then beginning this summer, they embark on their biggest headline tour to date, hitting landmark venues including Madison Square Garden in New York City and Kia Forum in Los Angeles. Select performances feature support from Waxahatchee, Feist, Kevin Morby and more.
Lord Huron UK Tour Dates (support from Pillow Queens)
September
Thu 18th – Bristol, Bristol Beacon
Fri 19th – London, Eventim Apollo (SOLD OUT)
Sat 20th – Glasgow, O2 Academy Glasgow (SOLD OUT)
Sun 21st – Manchester, O2 Apollo Manchester
Tue 23rd – Edinburgh, Usher Hall
Wed 24th – London, 02 Academy Brixton
