shame

This Friday, shame will release their highly anticipated new album, Food For Worms, on Dead Oceans. Food For Worms sees shame enter a new, surreal landscape, previewed through the “gnarled and energetic” (Stereogum) single “Six-Pack,” and lead single “Fingers of Steel,” which “goes bigger and aims higher than just about any song Shame have put out to date” (Consequence). Today, the UK-based quintet present its final single, “Adderall.” A fan-favorite after being endlessly teased in shame’s storied live sets, “Adderall” lowers the pace to elucidate frontman Charlie Steen’s lyrics, before opening up into the song’s anthemic chorus.

Next week, shame will embark on their North American/EU tour, beginning with a slew of European dates before the band crosses the pond in May to play New York, Chicago, and Austin, as well as a string of newly announced West Coast shows. Full dates are listed below and tickets are on sale now.

On one hand, Food for Worms calls to mind a certain morbidity, but on the other, it’s a celebration of life; the way that, in the end, we need each other. The album is an ode to friendship, and a documentation of the dynamic that only five people who have grown up together – and grown so close, against all odds – can share.

Food for Worms crashed into life faster than anything shame had created before. The band recorded while playing festivals all over Europe, invigorated by the strength of the reaction their new material was met with. That live energy, what it’s like to witness shame in their element, is captured perfectly on the record – like lightning in a bottle.

It’s through this, and defiance, that the band have continually moved forward together; finding light in uncomfortable contractions and playing their vulnerabilities as strengths. The near-breakdowns, identity crises, Steel routinely ripping his top off on-stage as a way of tackling his body weight insecurities – everything is thrown into their live show, and the best shows of their lives are happening now.