Nation of Language has released a new cover of “Tougher Than the Rest” by Bruce Springsteen, the song will also be available on a limited-edition 7” single (of 1000 copies) on Friday, May 29th, worldwide from Sub Pop. Nation of Language’s Ian Richard Devaney offers this on the track, “Like so many young New Jersey residents, I grew up listening to Springsteen, but this song somehow slipped by me during that formative era. I was really only exposed to it within the last few years, and it’s followed me around since then.

“I can remember finishing a particularly emotional show somewhere deep in last year’s tour, and our sound engineer, Skinny, started playing it as our exit music. It caught me so hard that I stayed there, just offstage, and listened to the rest of the song blasting, mixed with the sounds of all of the people milling about the venue.

“When we ultimately endeavored that we might try doing our own version of the song, we luckily had a Yamaha CS-80 at our disposal, the same synth model which featured pretty heavily across the Tunnel of Love sessions back in ’87. Knowing we were working with some of the same textures as the original made it a little less daunting to cover Bruce.”

Along with the track release, Nation of Language are announcing new run headlining and festival dates scheduled for the summer & early fall of 2026 in support of their recent Sub Pop debut Dance Called Memory.

Nation of Language 2026 Tour Dates

Thu. Jun. 11 – Porto, PT – Primavera Sound Porto Parque Da Cidade
Fri. Jun. 12 – Stuttgart, DE – About Pop Festival
Sat. Jun. 13 – Hilvarenbeek, NL – Best Kept Secret Festival
Tue. Jun. 16 – Lille, FR – L’Aeronef
Wed. Jun. 17 – Luxembourg, LU – Den Atelier
Thu. Jun. 18 – Lucerne, CH – B-Sides Festival
Fri. Jun. 19 – Lyon, FR – Transbordeur Club
Sun. Jun. 21 – Athens, GR – Release Athens Festival X SNF Nostos
Tue. Jun. 23 – Toulouse, FR – Le Bikini
Wed. Jun. 24 – Bordeaux, FR – Rock School Barbey
Sat. Jun. 27 – Camaiore, IT – La Prima Estate Festival
Thu. Jul. 09 – Ventura, CA – Ventura Music Hall
Fri. Jul. 10 – Las Vegas, NV – Swan Dive
Sun. Jul. 12 – Reno, NV – The Alpine
Tue. Jul. 14 – Felton, CA – Felton Music Hall
Wed. Jul. 15 – Sacramento, CA – Ace of Spades
Fri. Jul. 17 – Forest Grove, OR – Grand Lodge *
Sat. Jul. 18 – Carnation, WA – Remlinger Farms *
Sun. Jul. 19 – Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom
Wed. Jul. 22 – Asheville, NC – Eulogy
Thu. Jul. 23 – Nashville, TN – The Basement East
Fri. Jul. 24 – St. Louis, MO – Stifel Theatre ^
Sat. Jul. 25 – Bentonville, AR – The Momentary ^
Sun. Jul. 26 – Council Bluffs, IA – Harrah’s Stir Cove ^
Tue. Jul. 28 – Sandy, UT – Sandy Amphitheater ^
Wed. Jul. 29 – Sandy, UT – Sandy Amphitheater ^
Fri. Jul. 31 – Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Financial Theatre ^
Sun. Aug. 02 – Los Angeles, CA – The Greek Theatre ^
Mon. Aug. 03 – Los Angeles, CA – The Greek Theatre ^
Tue. Aug. 04 – San Diego, CA – Gallagher Square ^
Fri. Aug. 07 – Brno, CZ – Pop Messe Festival
Sun. Aug. 09 – Buftea, RO – Summer Well Festival
Wed. Aug. 12 – Leipzig, DE – Täubchenthal
Fri. Aug. 14 – Budapest, HU – Sziget
Sat. Aug. 15 – Vienna, AT – Flex
Tue. Aug. 18 – London, UK – Village Underground
Wed. Aug. 19 – London, UK – Village Underground
Thu. Aug. 20 – London, UK – Village Underground [Sold Out]
Sat. Aug. 22 – Crickhowell, UK – Green Man Festival
Sun. Aug. 23 – Liverpool, UK – Camp and Furnace
Tue. Aug. 25 – Leeds, UK – Irish Centre
Wed. Aug. 26 – Bristol, UK – Electric Bristol
Thu. Aug. 27 – Norwich, UK – Waterfront
Sat. Aug. 29 – Málaga, ES – Canela Party
Wed. Sep. 16 – Millersville, Pennsylvania – Phantom Power **
Thu. Sep. 17 – Baltimore, MD – Ottobar **
Fri. Sep. 18 – Baltimore, MD – Ottobar [Sold Out] **
Sat. Sep. 19 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount **
Mon. Sep. 21 – Millvale, PA – Mr. Small’s Theater **
Tue. Sep. 22 – Columbus, OH – Skullys **
Thu. Sep. 24 – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall **
Fri. Sep. 25 – Montreal, QC – Theatre Beanfield **
Sat. Sep. 26 – Portsmouth, NH – 3S Artspace **

* w/ Deep Sea Diver
^ w/ Death Cab For Cutie
** w/ Anika

Order Nation of Language’s Cover of “Tougher Than the Rest” by Bruce Springsteen HERE

Order tickets for Nation of Language HERE