alt-J today releases “Hard Drive Gold,” the third song from their upcoming album The Dream. The full-length will be released on February 11, 2022, via Canvasback/Atlantic.

Joe Newman, the band’s singer/guitarist/songwriter says “’Hard Drive Gold” is a slightly tongue-in-cheek song written at what we thought was the height of the cryptocurrency gold rush. It’s the story of the ultimate childhood fantasy, the schoolboy who becomes a millionaire overnight, and the different interactions he has with people in his life from teachers to neighbors. How ironically you interpret its message is entirely up to you…”

The song is accompanied by a video that is Newman’s directorial debut. Throughout the band’s career, Newman has been involved in developing the ideas of a number of alt-J videos, and now with “Hard Drive Gold”, he takes the full step up to directing. His partner, Darcy Wallace, who choreographed for both film and music videos co-directed the video. Newman says of the video, “Growing up enjoying cinema greatly I saw our music videos as opportune moments for directors to create stories purely and so we the band did not appear in our videos. By avoiding cuts to a band playing in an ‘airplane hanger’ the audience could focus on the cinema over the indie band music video tropes.”

“I had ideas for videos that I passed on to directors to develop, watching these directors execute some of these ideas inspired me and now I want to understand and experience the process at a deeper level.”

“Hard Drive Gold” follows “Get Better”, the stirring centerpiece of the forthcoming album The Dream, and “U&ME”, an inspired snapshot of the band’s experiences of playing summer festivals in Australia. Alongside the news of the songs, alt-J has previously announced an arena tour of North America, beginning, February 25 in Pittsburgh and ending April 17 in Toronto.

alt-J 2022 North American Tour Dates

February 25, 2022 – Pittsburgh PA – Petersen Events Center
February 26, 2022 – Washington DC – The Anthem
March 1, 2022 – Nashville TN – Nashville Municipal Auditorium
March 2, 2022 – Atlanta GA – State Farm Arena
March 4, 2022 – Tampa FL – Yuengling Center
March 5, 2022 – Hollywood FL – Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood
March 6, 2022 – Orlando FL – Orlando Amphitheater
March 9, 2022 – Dallas TX – The Factory in Deep Ellum
March 12, 2022 – Austin TX – Germania Insurance Amphitheater
March 13, 2022 – Houston TX – White Oak Music Hall
March 15, 2022 – St Louis MO – Chaifetz Arena
March 16, 2022 – Detroit MI – Masonic Temple Detroit
March 19, 2022 – Chicago IL – Credit Union 1 Arena
March 20, 2022 – Minneapolis MN – The Armory
March 23, 2022 – Denver CO – 1STBANK Center
March 25, 2022 – San Diego CA – Pechanga Arena San Diego
March 26, 2022 – Santa Barbara CA – Santa Barbara Bowl
March 27, 2022 – Los Angeles CA – STAPLES Center
March 29, 2022 – Seattle WA – WAMU Theatre
March 30, 2022 – Vancouver BC – Pacific Coliseum
April 1, 2022 – San Francisco CA – Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
April 3, 2022 – Las Vegas NV – The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas
April 5, 2022 – Salt Lake City UT – UCCU Center
April 7, 2022 – Kansas City MO – Cable Dahmer Arena
April 8, 2022 – Cincinnati OH – PromoWest Pavillion at Ovation
April 9, 2022 – Columbus OH – Schottenstein Center
April 11, 2022 – New York NY – Madison Square Garden
April 13, 2022 – Philadelphia PA – TD Pavilion at the Mann
April 14, 2022 – Boston MA – Agganis Arena
April 15, 2022 – Montreal QC – Place Bell
Apri 17, 2022 – Toronto ON – Coca-Cola Coliseum

All dates with With Portugal. The Man
with special guest Sir Chloe 2/25-3/20
with special guest Cherry Glazerr 3/23-4/17

Pre-order The Dream by alt-j HERE