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Nap Eyes have unveiled the next single from their forthcoming album, I’m Bad Now. The almost-title track “I’m Bad” deletes the temporal anchor of “now.” Delivered as a second person self-address, this country-rock inclined tune is stylistically different than anything the band has attempted, as well as mockingly self-flagellating. “You’re so dumb,” Nigel Chapman sings to himself, diagnosing his delusions.

Accompanying “I’m Bad” (roll over, Jackson) is a video directed by Halifax-based filmmaker Seth Smith and inspired by Renaissance portraiture, which The FADER premiered today. “It’s a pretty relaxed, contemplative track. It made me think of someone posing for a portrait,” says Seth. “I was thinking of self-image and the idea of seeing yourself through another person’s eyes. It was a fun set up, and a great group of not-bad people.” Nigel adds, “We’re very happy we got to collaborate with Seth to make this video. He’s an old friend, and an artist and songwriter we’ve all looked up to for many years. Keep an eye out for his feature films The Crescent (2017) and Lowlife (2012), and please listen to the music of Dog Day, if you have the opportunity!” RIYL George Saunders, Medieval Times, Michael Jackson.

The FADER writes that Nap Eyes is “one of the most satisfying rock bands making music anymore, with a wit and sound both relaxing and quick.”

I’m Bad Now constitutes the third chapter of an implicit, informal trilogy that includes Whine of the Mystic (2015) and Thought Rock Fish Scale (2016) (both on sale for 20% off with coupon code BADNOW). The brilliantly reductive title is something we’ve heard children announce verbatim when roleplaying the perennial game of heroes and villains, “good guys” and “bad guys.” “I’m bad now,” they declare, but an equivocal binary is implied: it’s only a matter of time or trading places before they have the capacity for good again. Perhaps goodness will manifest in the multiverse, on a different circuit than this faulty, frayed one. Is that faith or fantasy? And what is the difference? The title is also, of course, a sly Michael Jackson appropriation.

While Nigel composes Nap Eyes songs in their inchoate form at home in Halifax, Brad Labelle (lead guitar), Josh Salter (bass), and Seamus Dalton (drums), who live a twelve-hour drive away in Montreal, augment and arrange them, transubstantiating his skeletal, ruminative wafers into discourses that aim to transcend what Nigel self-laceratingly deems “bored and lazy disappointment art.” The band provides ballast and bowsprit to Nigel’s cosmical mind. The nautical metaphor is not just whimsy: Nap Eyes are all Nova Scotians by raising and temperament, acclimated to life on an Atlantic peninsula linked narrowly to the rest of North America. Brad is a physical guitarist whose lyrical grace is matched only by the dark ferocity of his feedback-laced solos, while Josh and Seamus exercise an unassuming mind-meld melodicism and vigor with their gentle thrumming.

Nap Eyes will tour North America and Europe this spring in support of I’m Bad Now, starting with a record release show in their adopted hometown of Montreal on March 8th. A full list of dates is below.

I’m Bad Now comes out March 9th via Paradise of Bachelors (U.S.), You’ve Changed (Canada) and Jagjaguwar (rest of world).

In other news, Uncut has published an ecstatic 9/10 review of the album, declaring it a “modest masterpiece” in league with the Go-Betweens, Belle and Sebastian, and Television.

“9/10. I’m Bad Now is the real deal… feels as much a modest masterpiece as Spring Hill Fair or Tigermilk. What sets them apart is the fear and trembling in Nigel Chapman’s reedy monotone and guitarist Brad Labelle, who unleashes the full Verlainian screaming bluebird repertoire.” – Uncut

LISTEN TO “EVERY TIME THE FEELING”:

LISTEN TO “DULL ME LINE”:

For a limited time, Whine of the Mystic (2015) and Thought Rock Fish Scale (2016) are both on sale for 20% off with coupon code BADNOW.

CATCH NAP EYES ON TOUR IN NORTH AMERICA:

PRAISE FOR NAP EYES: 

“This Nova Scotia quartet perfected the art of the chilled-out guitar jam on its previous two albums, triangulating the sweet spot between the Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Marquee Moon. If that sounds like your thing, I promise that Nap Eyes will be very your thing.” – Uproxx

“In just four short years, Nap Eyes have made much ado about meaninglessness with rock ‘n’ roll songs that shake just offbeat and smart lyrics wrapped in bemused ennui.” – NPR Music

“‘Every Time The Feeling” is possibly the catchiest, most immediate thing they’ve ever done, a deceptively thoughtful rocker that ambles along with a little extra verve.” – Stereogum

“Their relaxed, scholarly indie-rock imagines the Velvet Underground if they ditched the leathers for wool sweaters. But this languor contrasts with frontman Nigel Chapman’s hyperactive mind, yielding songs that are lucid with laser-like focus and freeze-framed detail.” – Pitchfork

“I’m Bad Now is undoubtedly the four piece’s most confident release so far. Finding a happy medium between the propulsive, twangy jangle of their 2015 debut Whine of the Mystic and the widescreen, subdued ramblings of Thought Rock Fish Scale, the songs on I’m Bad Now are driving doses of pastoral indie rock.” – Noisey