Algiers have released their new single,”Cleveland,” the track is off their forthcoming release The Underside Of Power out June 23rd on Matador Records. As a reference and tribute to Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old black boy who was shot and killed by police in November 2014 in Cleveland, OH, “Cleveland” is a gripping gospel, Detroit techno, and punk-fueled call to arms that manages to be both menacing and life affirming all at once.

“A recurring theme in our music is the idea of injustice and the bitter understanding that obtaining justice in this world is all but impossible–particularly for black and brown people,” says frontman and lyricist Franklin James Fisher. “I wanted the song to sound like the Final Judgement in the Bible, wherein the wicked are judged and condemned by the righteous with all the ‘weeping and gnashing of teeth,’ of the damned when justice is finally realized. This translates in the ‘solo’ section of the song. It consists of various recordings of people inconsolably crying and weeping while the guitar and lead vocal mirror their contortions. If you’ve ever witnessed something like that in real life, sound of a person’s sorrow is equal parts frightening and musical.”

While the song title invokes Tamir Rice, the lyrics summon Kindra Chapman, Andre Jones, Lennon Lacy, Sandra Bland, Roosevelt Pernell, Keith Warren and Alfred Wright, similarly victims of state sanctioned violence. It also makes a link with theorist Walter Benjamin’s work on divine violence, placing justice against the law, wherein the American legal system is complicit in the murder and enslavement of oppressed people.

The Underside Of Power was recorded largely in Bristol and produced by Adrian Utley (Portishead) and Ali Chant, mixed by Randall Dunn (Sunn O)))), with post-production by Ben Greenberg (Hubble, Uniform).

Algiers
The Underside Of Power
Tracklisting:

1. Walk Like A Panther
2. Cry Of The Martyrs
3. The Underside Of Power
4. Death March
5. A Murmur. A Sign.
6. Mme Rieux
7. Cleveland
8. Animals
9. Plague Years
10. A Hymn For An Average Man
11. Bury Me Standing
12. The Cycle/The Spiral: Time to Go Down Slowly

Tour Dates:

6/15 – Paris, FR – Secret Show
6/17 – Aarau, CH – Kiff
6/18 – Zurich, CH – Letzigrund Stadion *
6/19 – Heidelberg, DE – Karlstorbahnhof
6/20 – Frankfurt, DE – Commerzbank Arena *
6/21 – Munster, DE – Gleis22
6/22 – Berlin, DE – Olympiastadion Berlin *
6/23 – Berlin, DE – Musik & Freiden
6/25 – Rome, IT – Stadio Olimpico *
6/26 – Milan, IT – Santeria Social Club
6/27 – Milan, IT – Stadio San Siro *
6/29 – Bologna, IT – Studio Rentao Dall’Ara *
7/1 – St. Denis, FR – Stade de France *
7/4 – Gelsenkirchen, DE – Veltins-Arena *
7/13 – Vancouver, BC – Cobalt
7/14 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
7/15 – Seattle, WA – The Crocodile
7/17 – Oakland, CA – Starline Social Club
7/18 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo
7/22 – Brooklyn, NY – Baby’s All Right
7/23 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
7/24 – Washington, DC – Black Cat
10/15 – Atlanta, GA – Afropunk Festival

* denotes w/ Depeche Mode