Hotline TNT, the New York-based band fronted by Will Anderson, announce their third album Raspberry Moon, out June 20th via Third Man Records and share its lead single, ‘Julia’s War’. Raspberry Moon is the most sweeping and compelling Hotline TNT album to date and, crucially, the first built by a full band. Funnelled into the album are moments of vulnerability and romance, creating a statement of youthful wistfulness and very adult growth that also happens to be very charming and, at times, funny.
While in the studio of modern D.I.Y. hero Amos Pitsch (Tenement), Anderson found himself in an unusual position. This time, and for the first time, the quartet that had toured for the last 10 months as Hotline TNT had come with Anderson, somewhat unexpectedly. He had intended to make one more album his way, holing up with a producer and building songs piece by piece, as he’d done for Cartwheel, before making Hotline TNT a full-band affair in the future. But there was no avoiding it. Guitarist Lucky Hunter, bassist Haylen Trammel, and drummer Mike Ralston wanted in. Anderson relented.
In making Raspberry Moon, Anderson confronted a burgeoning if occasionally difficult belief: Hotline TNT was now a band, and this was the band. The benefits are self-evident— it is the most texturally rich and energetically nuanced album Hotline TNT has ever made—from start to middle to finish. Some of these 11 songs deal with the sting of regret, of being left or leaving, as Hotline TNT always has. But this is a record animated by a sense of newness and possibility, of pushing back against the global sense that curtains are closing to make room in your own life for new friends. It is perfect music for looking forward, no matter how fucked the past may feel.
Lead single ‘Julia’s War’ is an anthem of nascent affection. The guitars are perfectly warm and sharp, cutting into you but simultaneously pulling you into the song. Of the track, whose title is a hat tip to regional contemporary They Are Gutting A Body of Water’s sprawling imprint, Anderson says:
“In a world of half-hearted hooks, and buried-in-the-mix vocals, we had to muster the courage to do what the rest of the shoegaze community could not… We looked out to the stadium and reassured the audience: Our voices, together, will be heard. You’ve never heard a TNT chorus this straightforward – when we stress-tested it during the writing process, the ‘try not to sing along challenge’ came back with a 100% fail rate.”
Of the song’s accompanying video directed by Johnny Frohman, Anderson says:
“When it came time to cook up the music video, Johnny Frohman created a Full-Metal-Jacket-style shoegaze bootcamp… It’s not the Marine Corps, it’s Slow Corps. Edy Monica, Dan Licata, Peter Mills Weiss, and an ensemble cast of NYC comedy underworld alts rounded out the platoon and drafted us into a world where we could enlist in a strict regimen of pedalboard assembly and underwater vocal lessons.”
Hotline TNT Lives Dates
May
1 – Louisville, KY @ Mag Bar
2 – Urbana, IL @ Rose Bowl Tavern
3 – St Louis, MO @ Sinkhole
4 – Columbia, MO @ Rose Music Hall
6 – Colorado Springs, CO @ Vultures
8 – Boise, ID @ The Shredder
9 – Sat. May 10 – Portland, OR @ Roseland*
12 – Tue. May 13 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox*
14 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue*
16 – Sacramento, CA @ Channel 24*
17 – Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl*
18 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren*
20 – San Antonio, TX @ Aztec*
21 – Austin, TX @ Moody Theater*
22 – Dallas, TX @ Bomb Factory*
24 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Jones Assembly*
25 – Bentonville, AR @ The Momentary*
27 – Columbus, OH @ Kemba Live*
29 – Grand Rapids, MI @ GLC Live at 20 Monroe*
30 – Chicago, IL @ Salt Shed*
31 – Minneapolis, MN @ Surly Brewing*
June
1 – Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club % (early & late shows)
3 – Buffalo, NY @ Rec Room
* w/ Hippo Campus
% w/ Slow Pulp
For more information on Hotline TNT please check their instagram and website.
