Ezra Furman returns with a new single, “Point Me Toward the Real,” Furman’s debut for ANTI-, and also announces a fall North American tour kicking off Monday, September 12th. “Point Me Toward the Real,” out via ANTI-/Bella Union, marks Furman’s first solo release since 2019’s Twelve Nudes, and follows her stint soundtracking the hit Netflix show Sex Education. A tender and urgent ballad, “Point Me Toward the Real” reiterates Furman’s knack for crafting heartfelt earworms. “Cut me loose, cut me loose,” Furman cries atop dreamy horn arrangements by Nathaniel Walcott (Bright Eyes), “Let me get hurt // Let me feel // Cut my bound hands free and point me toward the real.” Featuring backing vocals from Shannon Lay and Debbie Neigher, “Point Me Toward the Real” was produced, engineered, and recorded by John Congleton (Angel Olsen, Future Islands, Sharon Van Etten).

Of the track, Furman explains: “This is a neo-soul song about getting released from a psychiatric hospital, which has never happened to me. But really it’s a song about what you do right after abuse, imprisonment, a brush with death. Who do you call when it’s supposedly over? Where do you go? How do you know what you want?

“We’ve all recently been going through something terrifying. We’ve all made friends with death in the last two years. When I look to the future, I want to know who has my back? Whose back do I have? And what is real, what and who can I rely on? Point me toward the real; there’s no other direction I want to go.”

This Sunday, Furman and the band – consisting of Ben Joseph (keyboards), Jordan Jordensen (bass), and Sam Durkes (drums) – will kick off their spring US tour at Northampton’s Iron Horse Music Hall. From there, they’ll make stops in Austin, Texas for SXSW, plus Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and more. Tickets for Furman’s September headlining shows go on sale on Friday, March 4th at 10 AM local, with a pre-sale for her mailing list on Thursday, March 3rd at 10 AM local. All other shows are on sale now and a full list of dates is below.

Ezra Furman Tour Dates:
Sun. Mar. 6 – Northampton, MA @ Iron Horse Music Hall (SOLD OUT)
Mon. Mar. 7 – Rochester, NY @ The Bug Jar
Tue. Mar. 8 – Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe (SOLD OUT)
Wed. Mar. 9 – Indianapolis, IN @ State Street Pub
Thu. Mar. 10 – Nashville, TN @ Third Man Records Blue Room
Sat. Mar. 12 – Atlanta, GA @ Aisle 5
Mon. Mar. 14 – Fort Worth, TX @ Tulips
Mar. 15-19 – Austin, TX @ SXSW
Thu. May 19 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom *
Sat. May 21 – San Francisco, CA @ August Hall *
Mon. May 23 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile *
Tue. May 24 – Vancouver, BC @ Hollywood Theatre *
Wed. May 25 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom *
Thu. May 26 – Boise, ID @ Visual Arts Collective *
Sat. May 28 – Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre *
Mon. May 30 – Des Moines, IA @ Gas Lamp *
Tue. May 31 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line *
Wed. Jun. 1 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall *
Thu. Jun. 9 – Somerville, MA @ Crystal Ballroom (Ezra Solo)
Thu. Jul. 21  – Valencia, ES @ Diversity Festival
Sun. Jul. 24 – Hertfordshire, UK @ Standon Calling Festival
Thu. Aug. 18 – Crickhowell, UK @ Green Man Festival
Mon. Sep. 12 – Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rosa
 Tue. Sep. 13 – Toronto, ON @ Rec Room
Wed. Sep. 14 – Detroit, MI @ The Loving Touch
Thu. Sep. 15 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr Small’s
Sun. Sep. 18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
Mon. Sep. 19 – Providence, RI @ Fete Ballroom
Tue. Sep. 20 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
Wed. Sep. 21 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall
Thu. Sep. 22 – Dover, DE @ Firefly Festival

Support from
* Grace Cummings