Sunflower Bean Share New Single TWENTYTWO

(Credit: Hollie Fernando)

Share New Single "Twentytwo"

"Twentytwo in Blue" out March 23 via Mom + Pop

New York trio Sunflower Bean will release their sophomore record next month, and today they share a gorgeous new single called "Twentytwo." 

Showcasing a gentler side of Sunflower Bean that's on display on "Twentytwo in Blue," "Twentytwo" is a sweet and breezy mid-tempo track about fighting back against society's expectations and generations of abuse by men in power. 

"Busted and used/ That's how you view your girl/ Now that she's 22," sings bassist and vocalist Julia Cumming. 

While it's timely with the recent cultural reckoning, "Twentytwo" shares a powerful and enduring message about resilience and fighting through the expectations put on you as a young adult, especially as a young woman. 

 As Cumming puts it, "You prevail." 

Listen to "Twentytwo" on Soundcloud.

Sunflower Bean are taking "Twentytwo in Blue" on the road this year with tour dates throughout the U.S., E.U. and U.K. 

See below to find a show near you, including a hometown show at Bowery Ballroom in NYC on April 26 where they will perform the new album in its entirety. 

Get your tickets at sunflowerbeanband.com/tour/.

Sunflower Bean will release "Twentytwo in Blue" on March 23 - when all members of the band will be 22 years old - and comes almost two years and two months after the release of their critically acclaimed 2016 debut album "Human Ceremony." 

Co-produced by Unknown Mortal Orchestra's Jacob Portrait (who also mixed the record) and HC-producer Matt Molnar of Friends, "Twentytwo in Blue" shows Sunflower Bean stay true to their guitar band core and classic rock-inspired roots, while exploring new sonic textures with more direct and progressive themes. 

Unlike their debut, which was essentially a compilation of songs Sunflower Bean wrote while still in their teens, "Twentytwo in Blue" was made in the year between December 2016 and December 2017 and showcases how far the band has come since playing together in their high school days. 

Pre-order Twentytwo in Blue, out 3/23 on Mom + Pop, sunflowerbeanband.com or smarturl.it/SB_22Blue.

Sunflower Bean find a sublime maturity and progression to their sound and songwriting on "Twentytwo in Blue." 

Reflecting on their past "rock"-heavy releases, the band decided to embrace a softer, and sweeter side on this record. 

This not only meant slowing things down a bit this time around, but also finds Cumming truly singing like never before. 

"We're a rock band, and we would never want to be a ballad-y band," Cumming said. "But also I think when you're like 18 and 19, you need to scream, you know? And in life you'll always need to scream. I was a little afraid to show myself as a singer, even to my band mates, but I did and we were able to push ourselves. I think if anything, after making this we're the most well-rounded we've ever been."

If there was a ragged beauty in the gauzy, groovy wall of sound of "Human Ceremony" and its predecessor, the 2015 EP "Show Me Your Seven Secrets," there's a new directness to these songs, a product of the band's growth and the insanity of the times we're in. 

Sunflower Bean have gained a newly confident voice that they bring to the second album, one that doesn't shy away from addressing the other events of those two years—political changes and cultural shifts that have left America and the world stupefied. 

"This has been such an unbelievable time," Kivlen said. "I can't imagine any artist of our ilk making a record and not have it be seen through the lens of the political climate of 2016 and 2017. So I think there's a few songs on the record that are definitely heavily influenced by this sort of—whatever you want to say what the Trump administration has been." 

"A shit show," Faber said.

Ultimately, this record is much more than a political statement or piece of commentary on today's political climate. 

"I think one word that always comes to mind when I think about this record is lovable," Cumming said. "We want the songs to be something that someone can get attached to, and have be a part of them. Because that's what I look for in songs myself, and that's the kind of experience we want to give to others."

Tour dates
2/22 - London, UK @ The Jazz Cafe #
3/01 - Los Angeles, CA @ Moroccan Lounge
3/02 - San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop (Popscene)
3/12-18/18 - Austin, TX @ SXSW
3/24 - Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms %
3/26 - Norwich, UK @ Open Norwich %
3/27 - Birmingham, UK @ Hare and Hounds %
3/28 - Newcastle upon Tyne, UK @ Riverside %
3/29 - Leeds, UK @ Wardrobe %
3/30 - Manchester, UK @ Gorilla %
3/31 - Liverpool, UK @ Substation at Invisible Wind Factory %
4/01 - Glasgow, UK @ Stereo %
4/03 - Bristol, UK @ Thekla %
4/05 - Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2 %
4/06 - London, UK @ Koko %
4/09 - Paris, FR @ Point Ephemere
4/10 - Antwerp, Belgium @ TRIX VZW
4/11 - Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso
4/12 - Hamburg, Germany @ Molotow
4/13 - Copenhagen, Denmark @ Loppen
4/14 - Berlin, Germany @ Rosis

4/15 - Vienna, Austria @ Chelsea Club
4/17 - Lausanne, Switzerland @ Le Romandie
4/18 - Zurich, Switzerland @ Bogen F
4/19 - Cologne, Germany @ Blue Shell
4/26 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
5/2 - Hamden, CT @ The Ballroom at The Outer Space ^
5/3 - Cambridge, MA @ Sonia ^
5/4 - Montreal, QC @ Petit Campus ^
5/5 - Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern ^
5/6 - Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place ^
5/8 - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern ^
5/9 - Pontiac, MI @ The Pike Room at the Crofoot ^
5/11 - Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall ^
5/12 - Grand Rapids, MI @ Founders Brewing Co ^
5/13 - Millvale, PA @ The Funhouse at Mr. Smalls ^
5/20 - Gulf Shores, AL @ The Hangout Music Festival
5/31 - Nelsonville, OH @ Nelsonville Music Festival
6/1 - Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery *
6/2 - Washington, D.C. @ Rock & Roll Hotel *
6/3 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle - Back Room *
6/5 - Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor *
6/6 - Atlanta, GA @ Aisle 5 *
6/8 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall: Upstairs
6/10 - Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
6/12 - Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar
6/13 - La Jolla, CA @ Che Cafe
6/14 - Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room
6/19 - Vancouver, BC @ The Fox Cabaret
6/20 - Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
6/25 - Omaha, NE @ Reverb
6/26 - Kansas City, MO @ recordBar
6/27 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
6/30 - Indianapolis, IN @ Hoosier Dome
7/1 - Nashville, TN @ 3rd and Lindsley
# - supporting Jessie Ware
% - with support from Sorry
^ - with support from Dream Wife
* - with support from The Nude Party