2018 marks the 10 year anniversary of The Joy Formidable. Alt-rock fans of course know the Welsh band from their three fantastic albums, the latest of which–Hitch–was released in 2016. Longtime Substream readers will also recognize Ritzy Bryan, Matthew James Thomas, and Rhydian Dafydd from the cover of Substream #51. For fans new or old, the next few months will be an exciting time. The Joy Formidable today announced that they’ll be releasing their fourth album, titled AARTH, this September.

We have an early taste of AAARTH in the form of “The Wrong Side,” a new single released just yesterday. “The Wrong Side” is a suitably epic introduction to the new project, with Bryan giving a particularly rousing vocal performance over funky, flowing instrumentals.

In a press release, Bryan described the concept behind the album by saying “With life not always being that kind, you can either go down a really dark hole or you can smear yourself with colour and reverie and try to forget. That’s what we did with AAARTH; we threw ourselves into this beautiful vivacious collage of experimentation, real meets unreal, and stopped giving a fuck about things that didn’t matter, and started caring more about the things that are worth your time.”

That’s not the end of the exciting news, either. The Joy Formidable will be touring in the fall in support of AAARTH. These dates include a run of concerts that will see the trio travel with Foo Fighters. A full list of dates can be found below.

AAARTH will be released on September 28 via Hassle Records. As well as the concert dates, you can find the full track list and listen to “The Wrong Side” below.

AAARTH Track List:
Y Bluen Eira
The Wrong Side
Go Loving
Cicada (Land on Your Back)
All in All
What For
The Better Me
Absence
Dance of the Lotus
You Can’t Give Me
Caught on a Breeze

The Joy Formidable North American Tour Dates
Sept 1 – Seattle, WA – Safeco Field *
Sept 4 – Edmonton, AB – Rogers Place *
Sept 6 – Calgary, AB – Scotiabank Saddledome *
Sept 8 – Vancouver, BC – Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena *
Sept 10 – Portland, OR – Moda Center *
Sept 12 – San Jose, CA – SAP Center *
Oct 17 – San Diego, CA – Casbah
Oct 19 – Los Angeles, CA – Lodge Room
Oct 23 – San Francisco, CA – The Independent
Oct 26 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
Oct 27 – Vancouver, BC – Fox Cabaret
Oct 28 – Seattle, WA – Neumos
Oct 31 – Denver, CO – Globe Hall
Nov 1 – Kansas City, MO – Record Bar
Nov 2 – St. Paul, MN – Turf Club
Nov 3 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
Nov 4 – Toronto, ON – Horseshoe Tavern
Nov 6 – Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair
Nov 7 – Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts
Nov 9 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
Nov 10 – Washington, DC – Black Cat
* With Foo Fighters