On February 10th, Matador Records will release This Stupid World, the brilliant sixteenth album (and, to be honest, the sixteenth brilliant album) by Yo La Tengo. To help fix this date more firmly in the minds of the public, the group offers a new single, the gentle and atmospheric “Aselestine,” which features a lead vocal by Georgia Hubley. 

Shortly following the album’s release, the band will embark on a tour of the US and Europe. Find a complete itinerary below. Time keeps moving and things keep changing, but that doesn’t mean we can’t fight back. Yo La Tengo has raced time for nearly four decades and, to my ears, they just keep winning. The trio’s latest victory is called This Stupid World, a spellbinding set of reflective songs that resist the ticking clock.

Of course, times have changed for Yo La Tengo as much as they have for everyone else. In the past, the band has often worked with outside producers and mixers. They made This Stupid World all by themselves. And their time-tested judgment is both sturdy enough to keep things to the band’s high standards, and nimble enough to make things new.

Another new thing about This Stupid World: it’s the most live-sounding Yo La Tengo album in years. At the base of nearly every track is the trio playing all at once, giving everything a right-now feel. There’s an immediacy to the music as if the distance between the first pass and the final product has become more direct.

Everyone on This Stupid World grapples with how time keeps steamrolling and how we keep trying to do something about it. It is there in the title, a defiant but clear-eyed declaration that suggests a will to fight, against the odds. It’s there in the title track too: “This stupid world – it’s killing me / This stupid world – is all we have.” Such realism leads to the resolute optimism of This Stupid World’s parting shot, “Miles Away,” which sees time’s passage and life’s impermanence as things to deal with rather than reasons to despair. “You feel alone / Friends are all gone,” Hubley sings softly. “Keep wiping the dust from your eyes.”

YO LA TENGO ON TOUR

Wed, Feb 15 – Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre

Thu, Feb 16 – Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre

Fri, Feb 17 – Bellingham, WA – Wild Buffalo – SOLD OUT

Sun, Feb 19 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom

Mon, Feb 20 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom

Wed, Feb 22 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore – SOLD OUT

Fri, Feb 24 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore – SOLD OUT

Sat, Feb 25 – Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom – SOLD OUT

Sun, Feb 26 – Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom – SOLD OUT

Mon, Feb 27 – Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom – SOLD OUT

Thu, Mar 9 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle

Fri, Mar 10 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle – SOLD OUT

Sat, Mar 11 – Asheville, NC – Orange Peel

Mon, Mar 13 – Nashville, TN – The Basement East

Tue, Mar 14 – Nashville, TN – The Basement East

Thu, Mar 16 – Charlottesville, VA – Jefferson Theater

Fri, Mar 17 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer

Sat, Mar 18 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Steel

Sun, Mar 19 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club – SOLD OUT

Tue, Mar 21 – Pittsburgh, PA – Mr Smalls

Wed, Mar 22 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom

Fri, Mar 24 – Chicago, IL – Metro – SOLD OUT

Sat, Mar 25 – Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall Ballroom

Sun, Mar 26 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue

Mon, Apr 10 – Dublin, IE – 3Olympia

Wed, Apr 12 – Manchester, UK – New Century Hall

Thu, Apr 13 – Bristol, UK – SWX

Fri, Apr 14 – London, UK – The London Palladium

Sun, Apr 16 – Brussels, BE – Ancienne Belgique

Tue, Apr 18 – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso

Wed, Apr 19 – Rotterdam, NL – LantarenVenster

Thu, Apr 20 – Hamburg, DE – Uebel & Gefaehrlich

Fri, Apr 21 – Copenhagen, DK – Bremen Teater

Sun, Apr 23 – Cologne, DE – Gloria Theatre

Mon, Apr 24 Prague, Czech Republic – MEETFACTORY

Tue, Apr 25 – Berlin, DE – Festaal Kreuzberg

Thu, Apr 27 – Paris, FR – La Cigale

Sat, Apr 29 – Barcelona, ES – Sala Apolo

Sun, Apr 30 – Murcia, ES – WARM UP Festival

Tue, May 2 – Madrid, ES – Warner Music the Music Station Príncipe Pío

Wed, May 3 – Bilbao, ES – Santana 27

Thu, May 4 – Bordeaux, FR – Rockschool Barbey