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This summer, revered rock institution Titus Andronicus have teased their forthcoming seventh studio album The Will to Live with a series of singles (such as “(I'm) Screwed” and “Give Me Grief”) that have been strikingly concise, melodic, upbeat, and to-the-point. Longtime fans could be forgiven for worrying that the ever-restless rockers, who built their legend with historical concept albums and 90-minute rock operas, had forsaken their characteristically lofty ambitions in pursuit of pop perfection.
Those fears can be laid to rest today with the release of “An Anomaly,” a seven-minute powerhouse of a single that immediately puts Titus Andronicus back in the running for the title of America’s boldest band.
While hitting as hard as any single before it, “An Anomaly” raises the stakes and expands the scope of The Will to Live to a cinematic widescreen epic. Over a thumping groove, singer-songwriter Patrick Stickles delivers a Milton-esque dissertation on humanity’s fall from grace, buoyed by angelic harmonies, until a breathtaking guitar solo from Josée Caron of the Canadian rock band Partner elevates the whole affair to “Hotel California” levels. The end result, Stickles says, was intended to evoke “Eliminator-era ZZ Top covering Silver Jews.”
WATCH "AN ANOMALY" OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO
PRE-ORDER THE WILL TO LIVE
The track is accompanied by an official video directed by Stickles (with cinematography from Gladys Peltier and editing by Ray Concepcion) that finds the singer strutting through the streets of Paris, staring down the viewer with a mélange of charm and menace inspired by Pusha T’s iconic clip for 2013’s “Numbers on the Boards.” When asked if he was worried about interference from the local authorities on this “guerilla style” shoot, Stickles calmly replied, “It’s been clear for many years now that, in Paris, Titus Andronicus can’t get arrested.”
Considering the far-reaching, nigh-Biblical themes of the lyrics, a far more historic, ancient city was required for this visual than could be found anywhere in the band’s native United States. “The titular ‘anomaly’ refers to the perversion of certain ‘natural’ impulses that have occurred within us humans upon taking ourselves out of the food chain, and the natural world in general,” Stickles explains. “A lion killing and eating a wildebeest is not an act of evil, or even malice. Such imperatives are programmed into the very core of the wild animal. This drive exists within us also, but we have gone astray in not only holding on to this primal thirst for violence beyond the point of its utility, but expanding upon and fortifying it by way of our ever-more terrible technological advances, up to and including the invention of the atom bomb. If you want to know the true nature of that which we call ‘the Devil,’ that is where I would start.”
LISTEN TO “GIVE ME GRIEF”
WATCH OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO
It’s not all doom and gloom, however, as [celebrity gossip alert] the typically jewelry-averse Stickles is seen for the first time with a prominently displayed gold band upon his fourth finger.
“It’s true, I’m married now,” Stickles shyly concedes. “I didn’t want to say anything about it previously, since there was always a chance she would come to her senses, but it’s official. Now I can tell you with great gratitude, that building upon the work I have done within myself, and after finally starting to take my medication (Lamictal) regimen seriously, the love and support of my wife, and the joy and security of the home we have made together, have brought me to a place of comfort and stability previously unknown to my adult life, which has allowed me to be more focused, productive, and proactive than ever with my art.”
So, was the new Mrs. Stickles annoyed at all at her husband for spending precious hours of their honeymoon on a music video shoot? “Far from it – besides being as supportive a person as there is, she is a French citizen herself, fluent in the language, so she was happy to kindly liaise between the crew and my own monolingual self.” He concludes, with a wink, “Besides, she knows that I’m a bigamist… I’m still married to the game.”
LISTEN TO “(I’M) SCREWED”
WATCH OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO
Titus Andronicus will celebrate The Will to Live with the first leg of their 2022–23 world tour which begins with their record release show September 30 at Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, NC. For complete details and ticket information, please visit titusandronicus.net/tour.
TITUS ANDRONICUS
TOUR 2022
Sept 24 Atlantic City, NJ – Frantic City Festival
Sept 30 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
Oct 1 Columbia, SC – Jam Room Festival
Oct 3 Atlanta, GA – The Earl
Oct 4 Nashville, TN – DRKMTTR
Oct 5 Oxford, MS – Proud Larry’s
Oct 6 New Orleans, LA – One Eyed Jacks
Oct 7 San Antonio, TX – Paper Tiger
Oct 8 Austin, TX – Far Out
Oct 9 Dallas, TX – Deep Ellum Art Co
Oct 10 Tulsa, OK – The Vanguard
Oct 12 Fayetteville, AR – George’s Majestic Lounge
Oct 13 St. Louis, MO – Blueberry Hill
Oct 14 Louisville, KY – Zanzabar
Oct 15 Cleveland, OH – Mahall’s
Oct 16 Toronto, ON – Lee’s Palace
Oct 17 Ottawa, ON – Club SAW
Oct 18 Montreal, QC – L’Esco
Oct 21 Woodstock, NY – Colony
Oct 22 Holyoke, MA – Race Street Live
Oct 23 Pawtucket, RI – The Met
Oct 25 Portland, ME – Space
Oct 26 Portsmouth, NH – 3S Artspace
Oct 27 Boston, MA – Crystal Ballroom
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With The Will to Live, Titus Andronicus invite listeners on a journey from fear to faith, from anger to acceptance, from grief to gratitude, all chasing the mythical ideal of Ultimate Rock. Drawing on maximalist rock epics from Who’s Next to Hysteria, the band have crafted their richest, densest, and hardest-hitting album to date, matching the sprawl and scope of their most celebrated work while also streamlining their ambitious attack to greater effect than ever before.
“It may strike some as ironic we had to go to Canada to record our equivalent to Born in the USA,” says Stickles, “but the pursuit of Ultimate Rock knows no borders.”
Titus Andronicus made their long-awaited return to the stage in November of 2021 to celebrate the anniversary of their landmark second album, 2010’s The Monitor. The act of playing that material before an ecstatic audience left Stickles determined to deliver an album that would reach for those same lofty heights, this time relying less on the reckless fire of youth, but more on the experience and perspective at which a band only arrives with a thousand shows under their belt.
To reach this level of focus and clarity, Stickles had to stand on the nexus of triumph and tragedy. He credits a newfound domestic bliss and steadfast mental health regimen for his own recent stretch of personal stability, as well as the endurance of what has become the longest-running consistent lineup of Titus Andronicus – Liam Betson on guitar, R.J. Gordon on bass, and Chris Wilson on drums, all of whom featured on 2018’s A Productive Cough and 2019’s An Obelisk. On the crueler side of the coin, The Will to Live was created in large part as an attempt to process the untimely 2021 death of Matt “Money” Miller, the band’s founding keyboardist and Stickles’ closest cousin. The result proves a milestone for Titus Andronicus, an ambitious, forward-facing work which stands tall on the nexus of triumph and tragedy, fueled by newfound focus and clarity, showcasing a uniquely gifted rock ’n’ roll band at the very peak of their creative powers.
“Certain recent challenges, some unique to myself and some we have all shared, but particularly the passing of my dearest friend, have forced me to recognize not only the precious and fragile nature of life, but also the interconnectivity of all life,” Stickles says. “Loved ones we have lost are really not lost at all, as they, and we still living, are all component pieces of a far larger continuous organism, which both precedes and succeeds our illusory individual selves, united through time by (you guessed it) the will to live. Recognition of this self-evident truth demands that we extend the same empathy and compassion we would wish for ourselves outward to every living creature, even to those we would label our enemies, for we are all cells in the same body, sprung from a common womb, devoted to the common cause of survival.
“Naturally, though, our long-suffering narrator can only arrive at this conclusion through a painful and arduous odyssey through Hell itself – this is a Titus Andronicus record, after all.”.
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TITUS ANDRONICUS
THE WILL TO LIVE
(Merge Records)
Release Date: Friday, September 30
The album comes packaged with gorgeous triple-gatefold artwork by illustrious illustrator Nicole Rifkin.
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