Sleigh Bells Announce New Album ‘Texis’ – First Song “Locust Laced” Out Now

Sleigh Bells – comprised of producer/guitarist Derek Miller and singer Alexis Krauss – are thrilled to announce their sixth album, Texis, set for release on September 10, 2021 on Mom + Pop Music.  The first single from the record “Locust Laced” — a classic slice of Sleigh Bells’ signature controlled chaos that has made them one of the most exciting bands of the last decade — can be heard now.  A video for the song, directed by Miller and Kills Birds’ Nina Ljeti, can be seen now as well.  The visual features Krauss as a classic country starlet come undone, a perfect complement to the song’s one-two punch of raucous guitar lines and Krauss’s high-octane, anthemic, shout-along chorus.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO “LOCUST LACED”

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO FOR “LOCUST LACED”

CLICK HERE TO PRE-SAVE / PRE-ORDER TEXIS

Photo: Chris Vultaggio

It’s been twelve years since Sleigh Bells burst into the public consciousness, emerging fully-formed from tiny New York City venues onto the global stage with a sound entirely their own.  Over four incredible full-length albums and one EP, Miller and Krauss have shaken up independent music; the duo were among the first to fully integrate the now-ubiquitous sounds of pop radio and hip-hop into their guitar-based melodies.  They’ve opened for everyone from LCD Soundsystem and Hot Chip to the Pixies and Weezer.  They’ve played Saturday Night Live and Later…with Jools Holland.  Their sound has been borrowed by countless pop producers looking to give their tracks some much-needed edge.  They’ve been championed by everyone from Spike Jonze to Reed Morano to Sofia Coppola, their songs providing the perfect aural complement to films and TV shows around the world.  And now – they’re releasing a brand new collection of music via a new partnership with longtime label partner Mom + Pop Music.

Their new album, Texis, is the sound of the duo letting go of hang-ups and inhibitions and allowing themselves to embrace the sort of loud, colorful, genre-melting music only they could make. “We stopped worrying about whether or not we’re in or out of our comfort zone, or if we were being repetitive or formulaic,” says Derek Miller. After pushing themselves to sound less obviously “Sleigh Bells” on their 2017 EP Kid Kruschev, he found he’d started to reject a lot of his best creative impulses.  On Texis, the duo decided to simply push the first domino and see what would happen, chasing down whatever excitement and inspiration followed; the resulting album is pure fireworks, full of the best songs Sleigh Bells have ever written and recorded.

The first domino was pushed in late 2018 when Miller sent an early demo of the track that would become “Justine Go Genesis” to Sleigh Bells singer and co-writer Alexis Krauss, feeling excited about its ultra-fast tempo but slightly self-conscious about his cartoonish, over-the-top metal riff.  Krauss clicked with the music right away and wrote her bright, unabashedly poppy melody within a few hours of receiving the track, resulting in a song that sounds like the unexpected intersection of Metallica, Spice Girls, and ‘90s drum and bass. The wild maximalism of “Justine Go Genesis” opened the floodgates for the songs to come, like the exuberant cheerleader metal of “Locust Laced” and “Tennessee Tips,” which whips dramatically between thrash riffs and spacey shoegaze sections. Miller and Krauss didn’t go “back to basics” by emulating the sound of their landmark debut Treats, but they did reconnect with that record’s brash, speaker-rattling energy. The result is an album that’s the most fully actualized version of the band, merging the more refined pop craft and deeper emotional palette of their 2016 album Jessica Rabbit with the dopamine-blasting bangers of their earlier days.

One of the band’s goals in writing Texis was to infuse even the most abrasive and full-blast songs with something that made the music feel “nourishing” to them. “The thing I’m most attracted to is the juxtaposition of happy and sad, melancholy and hope,” says Miller. “A lot of this is about trying to hold on to a shred of optimism through sheer force of will, and I hope this music can give people some joyful energy and confidence.”

Pre-order Sleigh Bells Texis here. Digital and CD versions of the album will be available September 10, 2021, and vinyl will ship on or around February 18, 2022.

Sleigh Bells will be touring in Fall 2021 and Winter 2022 in support of Texis; Kills Birds will be opening on the Fall dates.  Track listing and tour dates are below.

Texis track list:

1. SWEET75

2. An Acre Lost

3. I’m Not Down

4. Locust Laced

5. Knowing

6. Justine Go Genesis

7. Tennessee Tips

8. Rosary

9. Red Flag Flies

10. True Seekers

11. Hummingbird Bomb

Sleigh Bells tour dates:

2021 —

10/5 – Raleigh, NC – Lincoln Theatre

10/6 – Richmond, VA – The Broadberry

10/8 – Nashville, TN – Mercy Lounge

10/9 – Charlotte, NC – The Underground

10/10 – Atlanta, GA – Center Stage Theater

10/12 – Houston, TX – Warehouse Live

10/13 – Austin, TX – Mohawk

10/15 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater

10/17 – Denver, CO – Gothic Theatre

10/18 – Salt Lake City, UT – Metro Music Hall

10/20 – Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom

10/21 – Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom

10/23 – Oakland, CA – The New Parish

10/26 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom

10/27 – Vancouver, BC – Venue Nightclub

10/28 – Seattle, WA – The Showbox

2022 —

2/8 – Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall

2/9 – Cincinnati, OH – The Ballroom at Taft Theatre

2/11 – St. Louis, MO – Red Flag

2/12 – Kansas City, MO – The Truman

2/13 – Omaha, NE – Slowdown

2/15 – Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall Ballroom

2/16 – Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line

2/18 – Chicago, IL – Metro

2/19 – Detroit, MI – The Magic Stick

2/21 – Toronto, ON – The Axis Club

2/23 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club

2/24 – Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club

2/25 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Steel

2/27 – Philadelphia, PA – Theatre of Living Arts