Uncle, Duke & The Chief is OUT NOW!

Critically acclaimed Toronto band Born Ruffians just premiered the single “Miss You” from their upcoming fifth studio album Uncle, Duke & The Chief (out February 16 on Yep Roc Records) via DIY Magazine; listen/share the track at http://diymag.com/2018/01/09/born-ruffians-new-single-miss-you-listen.

Frontman Luke Lalonde explains the song’s genesis, “I found this old voice memo on my phone from 2015 called ‘I miss you so much baby.’ It was just the chorus of ‘Miss You’ with vocal and piano, very early ’60s vibe. I guess I just heard it on the right night when I had a guitar at hand and the rest of the song came very quickly.” Lalonde continues, “I think the narrator is a mix of pure ego and emotional suffering. He thinks the people walking by him on the sidewalk actually care about him, or are paying attention to him. This guy is sort of full of himself but he’s proud of his pain and his longing, he feels like it elevates him somehow and he wants to show it off.”

The band has also confirmed a new run of dates on their upcoming North American tour in support of the album beginning April 25 in London, ON. The tour includes a five-night residency in the group’s hometown at Lee’s Palace, with three of the shows already sold out; see below for a list of dates.

The first record since 2013’s Birthmarks to feature the group’s original three-piece lineup of guitarist/vocalist Lalonde, bassist Mitch DeRosier and drummer Steve Hamelin, Uncle, Duke & The Chief is produced by Richard Swift (The Shins, Foxygen, Tennis, Nathaniel Rateliff). Order the album HERE!

The band recently premiered the video for “Forget Me,” the second track to be released from the forthcoming album. The video stars frontperson Lalonde, watch/share it at https://youtu.be/0qlo0mhBcGA. Written by Lalonde on the day David Bowie died, he notes that, “what really resonated with me about Bowie’s death was how beautiful it was—it wasn’t necessarily a sad thing.” Lalonde continues, “the light is something that you should embrace and feel okay going towards it.”

The video, directed by Leah Fay Goldstein and Peter Dreimanis of July Talk, is a continuation of the video for the track “Love Too Soon” which the band recently premiered; watch/share “Love Too Soon” at https://youtu.be/UK9zRpZTCSw.

Lalonde says of the band’s reunited core trio, “We all have the same weird, shorthand language of knowing how to put a song together…it’s really super-fast and efficient.” The album’s writing was greatly informed by both Bowie’s passing as well as a cancer diagnosis for Lalonde’s father.

Formed in rural Ontario, Born Ruffians arrived on the Toronto scene in 2004 and released a self-titled EP in 2006 (XL/Warp Records). Warp Records released their debut full-length album Red, Yellow & Blue and their sophomore effort, 2010’s Say It before joining Yep Roc for 2013’s Birthmarks and 2015’s RUFF. The band has received extensive critical praise from NPR, Pitchfork, Stereogum, Noisey, Magnet Magazine, Under the Radar, the Village Voice and more, and has toured with The New Pornographers, Caribou, Tokyo Police Club, Franz Ferdinand, Peter Bjorn and John, Hot Chip, The Hidden Cameras, Girl Talk, Stereolab, Tame Impala and others.

In addition to his work with Born Ruffians, frontperson Lalonde also recently made his acting debut alongside Tim Heidecker in the feature film Sundowners. The New York Times praised Lalonde’s “assured film debut,” watch a trailer for the movie at https://youtu.be/r2BHYiy-WTE.

Order ‘Uncle, Duke & The Chief” HERE!