New York City cult indie darlings The Van Pelt have released ‘Image Of Health’ the next single off their upcoming fourth studio full-length, titled ‘Artisans & Merchants,’ which will be released March 17 by Spartan Records in North America, La Castanya in Europe/World and Gringo in the UK.
The album, the band’s first in over 25 years, was recorded and mixed in the Summer and Fall of 2021 by Jeff Zeigler (The War On Drugs, Kurt Vile) at Uniform Recording in Philadelphia, and features guest appearances by Nate Kinsella and Ted Leo among others.
Frontman Chris Leo shares: “I’m a middle-aged man now. Straightforward, cutting-to-the-point dialogue speaks much more to me than circuitous lofty rants. I knew a lot when I was young and what I didn’t know I wasn’t afraid to propose as arguments in unwinnable fights for the sake of pushing discourse into novel realms. Now that I’m halfway through a century though, there’s been this need in me to touch home base, revisit basic tenets with wiser eyes and a worldview humbled by it being smashed to pieces over and over again. So many of my modern lyrics need no Cliff’s Notes. They are so clear and direct that they only require the listener to bring their own humble vulnerability to the table as well. Addressing these lifelong elephants in the room feels more apt to me at this stage in life than dissecting astrophysics.” With that folks, we give you ‘Image of Health,’ a song whose lyrics are explained in the lyrics themselves.”
The Van Pelt has announced a series of UK, EU, and US shows in March and April. See the dates below:
March 16th – Warf Chambers – Leeds, UK
March 17th – The Old Cold Store – Nottingham, UK
March 18th – The Garage – London, UK
March 19th – Trix – Antwerp, Belgium
April 23rd – St. Vitus – Brooklyn, NY