LCD Soundsystem have a tendency to make grand exits (and comebacks), but band leader James Murphy is trying out a more honest mode of communication with his fans these days. The frontman posted a lengthy note to Facebook today (March 7th), where he said that in the band’s third decade, LCD Soundsystem are more likely to play “mini residencies” in the same city than embarking on lengthy tours.
“You see, we tend, historically, to take big chunks of time off between tours and LPs. And then, after the break, I begin to feel like I want to make a record, or we want to play some shows,” Murphy opened the note. But starting a new album cycle is time-consuming and daunting, the artist explained, which leads the band to taking even more time to finish a project.
“This happened with American Dream,” Murphy said. “We booked the shows, thinking I’d be done or nearly done with the record, and then I wasn’t, and there we are on this full tour with me trying to work on the record in the gaps, which weren’t that many… There’s a thing with tour, also, where you invest so much time, energy, and cost into ‘getting ready’ that you wind up touring for ages just to make it worthwhile… then you need a big break again. Then you are reluctant to start all over again. It’s a cycle.”
Going forward, Murphy said LCD Soundsystem would instead pivot to a more low-key existence, playing small-scale residencies in cities like Philadelphia, Boston, and London and recording singles here and there when they feel like it instead of committing to large tours and entire albums.
“It’s not overwhelming, so I can work on new music and we can all be human beings. Maybe we’ll just play other places next year, moving around to cities we like to play, where we’re wanted, etc,” Murphy wrote.
Murphy also shouted out the 20th anniversary of the band and his label, DFA Records, and hinted that some anniversary shows were in the works as well. Don’t expect the band to reschedule those canceled Brooklyn Steel concerts, however. Murphy said the band would offer “first dibs” on tickets to the next run of shows in New York to those who were set to see the band’s ill-fated residency, but that it was too difficult to reschedule gigs at the same venue.
Read Murphy’s full note to fans below, and grab tickets to LCD Soundsystem’s upcoming shows via Ticketmaster. The band recently performed on John Mulaney’s Five Timers Club-anointing episode of Saturday Night Live, and in December, they released the über-meta LCD Soundystem Holiday Special. All of this happened after Murphy said the band was on “full hiatus” back in July, which is only the second-biggest walkback from retirement in LCD Soundsystem history.
