Dine Alone Records and Canadian Punks Single Mothers have announced the Friday, April 28, 2023 release of the band’s new album, Roy. Written over the course of a week during a particularly challenging time for frontman and Single Mothers’ only permanent member Drew Thomson, Roy is an anomaly within the band’s own catalog.
It’s quite different from the Hardcore sound of their 2014 release, Negative Qualities, and it bears little resemblance to the more mellowed Post-Punk sounds of 2022’s Everything You Need. Instead, Roy dabbles a bit in Eighties New Wave and Indie-Rock.
Leading the collection are the tracks “Head Shrunk,” where Thomson ponders therapy sessions, and “Sad Dumb Game,” where he examines “the disconnect between online activist posturing and meaningful social change.”
He says:
I wrote ‘Sad Dumb Game’ as a reflection of our intentions versus our actions. We’re in a weird spot where two identities exist: your online persona and the real you. Lots of people get to see the online you, the one that’s carefully crafted, massaged, edited. A small fraction get to see the real person that exists outside the algorithms and edited rewrites. ‘Sad Dumb Game’ is about that performative dance, that editing process. It’s about the you that only exists on a screen somewhere versus who we really are.
Additionally, Single Mothers have announced a number of North American appearances to coincide with the release of Roy. Continuing tonight in Fredericton, NB, the band will visit numerous markets across Canada and the U.S through June 30 with Chastity and Off With Their Heads on select dates.
While Single Mothers traditionally has a rotating cast of musicians as a form of experiment, the pandemic nearly brought the project to a halt for good. But continuing with Roy also raises questions about the project’s future.
Thompson shares:
If the band is done and this is the final record, then I’m happy with this one being the last one. Some of the best and worst moments of my life are tied to this band. Part of me has been trying to get out of it since I started it, but it always drags me back in. I’ve realized that I’ll probably never be able to walk away from it completely. Single Mothers is tied to my soul at this point, for better or worse. It has its claws in my heart.
Single Mothers will be making the following North American appearances during March, May and June.
MARCH
16 — Saint John, NB — Panic Room *
17 — Moncton, NB — Xeroz *
18 — Halifax, NS — Gus’ Pub *
MAY
04 — Detroit, MI — Smalls ^
05 — Cleveland, OH — The Foundry ^
06 — Pittsburgh, PA — Funhouse ^
07 — Morgantown, WV — Pleasant St ^
09 — Lancaster, PA — Tellus 360 ^
10 — Baltimore, MD — Metro Gallery ^
11 — Brooklyn, NY — The Meadows ^
12 — Richmond, VA — Cobra Cabana ^
13 — Philadelphia, PA — First Unitarian ^
14 — Asbury Park, NJ — House Of Independents ^
15 — Boston, MA — The Sinclair ^
17 — London, ON — Rum Runners ^
18 — Toronto, ON — The Garrison ^
19 — Ottawa, ON — Dominion Tavern ^
JUNE
01 — Green Bay, WI — The Lyric Room ^
02 — Minneapolis, MN — First Avenue ^
03 — Fargo, ND — Aquarium ^
04 — Winnipeg, MB — The Goodwill ^
05 — Regina, SK — Sask Cultural Exg ^
06 — Saskatoon, SK — Black Cat Tavern ^
07 — Edmonton, AB — The Buckingham ^
08 — Calgary, AB — Broken City ^
09 — Nelson, BC — The Royal ^
10 — Kelowna, BC — Runaways ^
12 — Vancouver, BC — Fox Cabaret ^
14 — Seattle, WA — El Corazon ^
15 — Portland, OR — The Star Theatre ^
16 — San Francisco, CA — Bottom Of The Hill ^
17 — San Pedro, CA — The Sardine ^
18 — Long Beach, CA — Alex’s Bar ^
20 — San Diego, CA — Casbah ^
21 — Phoenix, AZ — Pub Rock ^
22 — Las Vegas, NV — Dive Bar ^
24 — Grand Junction, CO — Mesa Theatre ^
25 — Denver, CO — Marquis Theatre ^
27 — Omaha, NE — Reverb Lounge ^
28 — Des Moines, IA — Lefty’s Live ^
29 — St. Louis, MO — Red Flag ^
30 — Chicago, IL — Beat Kitchen ^
* — Chastity supporting
^ — supporting Off With Their Heads
