In 2012, Young Empires released Wake All My Youth, a spritely electro-pop EP that garnered the band comparisons to everyone from Battles and Yeasayers to Arcade Fire and Foals. Now, the Toronto trio are releasing The Gates, their first proper full-length, and we’re proud to premiere it. You can hear the entire record below.
“We all knew that we wanted to make a record that was more mature,” says lead singer Matthew Vlahovich in a statement. “We were twenty-five years old when we wrote our first one, and now we’re in our thirties. We’ve grown up on a lot of levels.” The band worked collaboratively on the album’s creation, with Vlahovich, Jacob Palahnuk, and Taylor Hill regularly switching instruments. “It was very fluid,” Vlahovich says.
The Gates was recorded at Vlahovich’s home studio in Toronto, with additional sessions in LA that were helmed by Stephen Kozmeniuk (Kendrick Lamar, Madonna), Jimmy Messer (AWOLNATION), and Kevin Seaton (Snoop Lion). That heavy-hitting trio gives The Gates a professional sheen, giving the group’s airy pop an authoritative stomp. Lead single “So Cruel” sets a woozy house piano to wobble beneath twists of weasel-pitched vocal samples before Vlahovich drops in. “My heart skips a beat / Every time I see the light / And I just can’t let it die,” he sings.
Give The Gates a listen below, and keep reading for the band’s upcoming tour dates, which includes a stop at Chicago’s Empty Bottle on September 27.
The Gates track list
“Mercy”
“The Gates”
“So Cruel”
“Ghosts”
“Stranglehold”
“House Lights”
“Never Die Young”
“The Unknown”
“Sunshine”
“Uncover Your Eyes”
Young Empires tour dates
September
8 — San Diego, CA — The Casbah
9 — Fullerton, CA — The Continental Room
11 — Los Angeles, CA — The Echo
12 — San Francisco, CA — Neck Of The Woods
15 — Portland, OR — Analog Theater
16 — Seattle, WA — Tractor Tavern
26 — Cincinnati, OH — Midpoint Music Festival
27 — Chicago, IL — Empty Bottle
October
13 — Washington, DC — U Street Music Hall
24 — Buffalo, NY — Waiting Room
The Gates is out September 4 on Votiv.
