SBTRKT has shared “Days Go By,” featuring Toro y Moi. The song arrives after recently announcing his forthcoming album The Rat Road and sharing its lead single “Waiting” with Teezo Touchdown. Set to be released May 5th, The Rat Road is SBTRKT’s first body of work since 2016’s Save Yourself.

Speaking about “Days Go By” and collaborating with Toro y Moi, SBTRKT shares:

“I first met Chaz back in 2012 when we were both playing on a festival tour around Australia. It wasn’t until 2018 that I got around to saying ‘what’s up’ again and made a trip out to Oakland to hang and make some tunes. We reconnected a bunch more times over a couple of years — in London and on another trip to Paris — which was something that made sense with the track’s influences and turned the song into this weird international collaboration! Once the pandemic hit, I had to sit on the music for quite a while, but the timing feels right and I’m happy that it’s out in the world now!

A lot of my prior press coverage was as a masked, elusive character,” acknowledges SBTRKT’s Aaron Jerome. “My storyline became attached to the mask. A lot has been projected onto or written for me, diluting what I actually created and then, that being attributed to others around me.” After the tightly-packed first five years of SBTRKT and its many successes, SBTRKT retracted while Aaron Jerome stepped in to observe the landscape.

There were many aspects to the music business which sat opposed to this and I realised it was time to re-evaluate who I worked with or what I was wanting to achieve or create,” he admits. “The point was that I was resetting. I’ve never felt comfortable having to chase the herd. I have always followed my own instinct and independence in what I’m creating and how and where to release music.”

The Rat Road takes these frustrations and underpins them with optimism. It’s a sonic ride reflecting on the societal changes in the six years SBTRKT has been creating it, and also a personal reflection of his journey through his life. “As humans, our moods are changeable,” he says. “We are still able to laugh amidst this collective anxiety. I’m tapping into how we feel about our role in climate change and the future, the politics of Britain, but also the music industry. You need all your wits about you to not get screwed over.”

SBTRKT 2023 Tour Dates

May 25th – London, UK @ HERE at Outernet
June 7th – New York, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
June 13th – Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey
June 14th – Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey
Aug 19th – London, UK @ Field Day Festival

On the heels of the album’s release, SBTRKT is announcing headlining shows in New York, Los Angeles and London. The London performance marks his first headlining show in the city in 9 years. Tickets for the North American shows will be on sale this Friday, April 7th at 10AM local time and London tickets will go on sale on Wednesday, April 12th at 10AM local time. Tickets will be available at saveyourself.tv.