American post-hardcore band La Dispute has revealed that their fifth album—marking their first release since 2019’s ‘Panorama’—will be available on 5th September through Epitaph. Titled ‘No One Was Driving The Car’, this self-produced LP draws significant inspiration from the 2017 psychological thriller First Reformed, exploring themes such as technology-induced anxiety and fears of an impending apocalypse. (The album's title comes from a news piece that vocalist Jordan Dreyer encountered regarding a deadly self-driving car accident). In conjunction with the album announcement, La Dispute has shared three new tracks—‘I Shaved My Head’, ‘Man with Hands and Ankles Bound’, and ‘Autofiction Detail’—which represent the first part of ‘No One Was Driving The Car’s five ‘acts’.
Describing this initial conceptual installment, Dreyer stated: “It starts with a man contemplating his gradual dissociation from himself while shaving his head alone in a bathroom at night, then transitions to a conversation seen through a neighbor’s open window about control and desire, involving an image of a man bound on the floor with a woman in front of him, likely a sex worker. When the woman leaves the building (with her companion still restrained), the narrator departs his own space, following not her specifically but rather the idea she embodies in his struggle to reconnect with desires for life that have been interrupted by time, self, and circumstance, or perhaps escaping the meaning he perceives from the man left there (his helplessness, or possibly his determination to pursue something complex where the narrator has repeatedly faltered).
“The third song tracks his aimless late-night journey through the streets and their turmoil, culminating at a place he unconsciously steered towards all night: the hospital where his partner works, leading to an internal confrontation.”
Watch the official video for ‘I Shaved My Head’ here:
‘No One Was Driving The Car’ tracklist:
1. I Shaved My Head
2. Man with Hands and Ankles Bound
3. Autofiction Detail
4. Environmental Catastrophe Film
5. Self-Portrait Backwards
6. The Field
7. Sibling Fistfight at Mom’s Fiftieth / The Un-sound
8. Landlord Calls the Sheriff In
9. Steve
10. Top-Sellers Banquet
11. Saturation Diver
12. I Dreamt of a Room with All My Friends
13. No One Was Driving the Car
14. End Times Sermon
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Singer-songwriter Laci Kaye Booth shares her thoughts on what her debut album ‘The Loneliest Girl in the World’ represents to her, describes why her encounter with her producer felt like a stroke of divine intervention, and outlines her aspirations for 2025!
Nation of Language has signed with Sub Pop. The Brooklyn-based band blends post-punk with delicate electronics, creating captivating songs that resonate deeply.
The upcoming album is inspired by the 2017 thriller featuring Ethan Hawke, First Reformed.