When it comes to music acts, if you are going to use a moniker, you might as well go big. For Kyle Thomas, the recording artist went all out when he picked his moniker, King Tuff. And it fits him just fine.
It’s been four years since fans heard new music from the king himself, who has been spending his tour on the road with Ty Segall’s band, and just last week, he returned with his first new song titled “The Other.” A departure from what fans are used to back in 2014 with his Black Moon Spell album. Today, Thomas returned with another new track, “Psycho Star,” as well as the announcement of a brand new album.
About the new album, Thomas sees the experience as a psychic rerest. “I let the songs lead me where they wanted to go, instead of trying to push them into a certain zone. King Tuff was always just supposed to be me. When I started doing this as a teenager, it was whatever I wanted it to be. King Tuff was never supposed to be just one thing. It was supposed to be everything.”
With the new single, “Psycho Star” comes with a visual music video directed by Cameron Dutra. The clip begins with an aerial shot of a train before moving in on a strange woman holding a sign that may look familiar to sci-fans out there. She waves the sign to anyone who will notice her, but no one does. Everyone surrounding her is distracted by their mobile phones. A perfect shot for a song that has the lyrics, “Looking out my window / There’s no doubt about it /We don’t belong in this world” The rest of music video shows King Tuff dressed in red performing the song to a camera while young women dance around him dressed like devils. Weird? Yes. But like Thomas sings, “The universe is probably an illusion / But isn’t it so beautifully bizarre?”
The new album, titled, The Other is Thomas’s fifth full-length studio album and set to come out through Sub Pop Records April 13th. Thomas produced the album himself and featured contributions from Ty Segall (drums), Jenny Lewis (vocals), Greta Morgan (vocals), and Mikal Cronin (saxophone). Thomas brought along Shawn Everett (War On Drugs, Alabama Shakes) to help assist with the mixing process.
Fans can pre-order their album here.
All tour dates are listed, along with album art and tracklist, below.
The Other tracklisting:
The Other
Raindrop Blue
Thru The Cracks
Psycho Star
Infinite Mile
Birds of Paradise
Circuits in the Sand
Ultraviolet
Neverending Sunshine
No Man’s Land
Watch the music video for “Psycho Star” below.
To add to the excitement of new music, King Tuff has announced a North American tour starting May 3rd in San Diego. The tour will feature Cut Worms are the opening act. Tickets for these shows will go on sale this Friday, February 9th. Visit his official website for more updates.
King Tuff on tour:
May 3 – San Diego, CA – The Casbah *
May 4 – Phoenix, AZ – Valley Bar *
May 5 – Santa Fe, NM – Meow Wolf *
May 7 – Houston, TX – Rockefeller Hall *
May 8 – Austin, TX – Barracuda (outside) *
May 9 – Dallas, TX – Club Dada *
May 11 – New Orleans, LA – One Eyed Jacks *
May 12 – Atlanta, GA – The Earl *
May 13 – Nashville TN – The Basement East *
May 14 – Lexington, KY – The Burl *
May 16 – Washington DC – Rock & Roll Hotel *
May 18 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg *
May 19 – Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church *
May 20 – Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall *
May 22 – Burlington, VT – Higher Ground *
May 23 – Toronto, ON – Horseshoe Tavern *
May 24 – Detroit, MI – El Club *
May 25 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall *
May 26 – Minneapolis, MN – Turf Club *
May 29 – Denver, CO – Globe Hall *
May 30 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge *
June 1 – Seattle, WA – The Crocodile *
June 2 – Vancouver, BC – Fortune Sound Club *
June 3 – Portland, OR – Star Theater *
June 5 – San Francisco, CA – The Independent *
June 7 – Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom *
* w/ Cut Worms
Photo credit by Marv Watson
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