John Cale announces UK & European tour
19th August 2024
Earlier this summer, John Cale released the acclaimed POPtical Illusion, his second album in just over a year. POPtical Illusion contained the same feelings of fierce and inquisitive rage that were present in Cale’s 2023 album MERCY but was the work of someone not ignoring the rage or the reasons for it and, instead, trying to turn toward the future - exactly as Cale, of course, always has.
He has a sage insistence that change is yet possible. “If you’ve done things you’d wished you’ve never done,” he sings during the irrepressible “Davies and Wales,” a buoyant bit of New Wave-meets-Brian Wilson joy, “think of the things you’re going to do tonight.”
Today, Cale releases the video for “Davies and Wales”. Directed by the Emmy-winning Jethro Waters – who also directed the “STORY OF BLOOD” video from MERCY, Waters says: "Davies and Wales is such a perfect example of the kind of things that only John Cale can do all at once: upbeat, melancholic, happy, shapeshifting, nostalgic, modern, beautiful heartache. There is such a melange of feelings packed into this song - his youth in Wales, his time in NYC and California - and I wanted to try and translate that time travel in a joyful, purposeful way."
Additionally, John Cale will return to the UK & Europe for a tour in March 2025.
John Cale has always been a musician of the times, helping to usher in titanic shifts in sound and culture. The bleeding edge drones of his Sun Blindness Music opened the path to The Velvet Underground. The frantic rock of Fear and Slow Dazzle, not to mention his production with Patti Smith and the Stooges, framed a half century of punk, post-punk, and art-rock to come. And his curiosity about the way electronics could be more than a gimmick in rock music served as an inspiration to an uncountable number of crucial scenes. Once again, on POPtical Illusion, Cale stands as a musician of these times. He looks at the orchestrated turmoil of recent history, furrows his brow in disgust, and then turns on his heels toward a future, even if he - like all of the rest of us, really - doesn’t know just what he’ll find or who exactly he’ll be there. He’s simply happy to be going toward it all.
Upcoming live datesMonday 3rd March - Le Trianon, Paris
Tuesday 4th March - Cirque Royal, Brussels
Thursday 6th March – Tollhaus, Karlsruhe
Friday 7th March - Alte Kongresshalle, Munich
Sunday 9th March – Theaterhaus, Stuttgart
Monday 10th March – Rockhal, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
Wednesday 12th March - Markgrafenhalle, Nurnberg
Thursday 13th March - Haus Auensee, Leipzig
Friday 14th March – Columbiahalle, Berlin
Sunday 16th March – Laeiszhalle, Hamburg
Monday 17th March – TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht
Tuesday 18th March - Carlswerk Victoria, Cologne
Thursday 20th March – Playhouse, Nottingham
Friday 21st March - Royal Festival Hall, London
Sunday 23rd March - Town Hall, Birmingham
Monday 24th March – Pavilion, Glasgow
Tuesday 25th March - New Tyne Theatre, Newcastle
Thursday 27th March - De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill on Sea
Saturday 29th March - Wales New Theatre, Cardiff
Sunday 30th March – Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool
Monday 31st March - Vicar Street, Dublin
Tickets on sale September 12th
John Cale POPtical Illusion
Album | 14th June 2024
Despite the album’s playful title, Cale’s second album in just over a year still contains the same feelings of fierce and inquisitive rage that were present in 2023 album MERCY. He remains angry, still incensed by the willful destruction that unchecked capitalists and unrepentant conmen have hoisted upon the wonders of this world and the goodness of its people. But this is not at all MERCY II, or some collection of castoffs, as throughout his career of more than six decades, Cale has never been much for repetition. His vanguard-shaping enthusiasms have shifted among ecstatic classicism and unbound rock, classic songcraft and electronic reimagination with proud restlessness.
And so, on POPtical Illusion, he foregoes the illustrious cast to burrow mostly alone into mazes of synthesizers and samples, organs and pianos, with words that, as far as Cale goes, constitute a sort of swirling hope, a sage insistence that change is yet possible. Produced by Cale and longtime artistic partner Nita Scott, POPtical Illusion is the work of someone trying to turn toward the future – exactly as Cale always has.
John Cale POPtical Illusion
Album | 14th June 2024
Despite the album’s playful title, Cale’s second album in just over a year still contains the same feelings of fierce and inquisitive rage that were present in 2023 album MERCY. He remains angry, still incensed by the willful destruction that unchecked capitalists and unrepentant conmen have hoisted upon the wonders of this world and the goodness of its people. But this is not at all MERCY II, or some collection of castoffs, as throughout his career of more than six decades, Cale has never been much for repetition. His vanguard-shaping enthusiasms have shifted among ecstatic classicism and unbound rock, classic songcraft and electronic reimagination with proud restlessness.
And so, on POPtical Illusion, he foregoes the illustrious cast to burrow mostly alone into mazes of synthesizers and samples, organs and pianos, with words that, as far as Cale goes, constitute a sort of swirling hope, a sage insistence that change is yet possible. Produced by Cale and longtime artistic partner Nita Scott, POPtical Illusion is the work of someone trying to turn toward the future – exactly as Cale always has.
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