Benjamin Booker has announced his first album in over seven years. Lower is the New Orleans–based musician’s follow-up to 2017’s Witness, and it’s out January 24 on Booker’s new label, Fire Next Time Records. Booker co-produced his album with Kenny Segal, who will join the singer on a North American tour next year. Find those dates below.
Lower’s lead single is “Lwa in the Trailer Park,” and it comes with a black-and-white music video that you can watch below. “I felt particularly connected to Paul Schrader’s work making this album,” Booker said of his visual in a press statement. “Like several of his movies, I wanted to look at a troubled character on the edge, reaching for transcendence. Now that I’m working on a series of connected videos, Schrader has had an influence in that arena as well, along with Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samouraï and Charles Burnett’s Killer of Sheep.”
Last year, Booker featured on “Baby Steps,” a cut from billy woods and Kenny Segal’s Maps. He also featured on Armand Hammer’s “Doves,” co-producing the nearly nine-minute track with Segal.
All products featured on Pitchfork are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Lower:
01 Black Opps
02 Lwa in the Trailer Park
03 Pompeii Statues
04 Slow Dance in a Gay Bar
05 Speaking With the Dead
06 Rebecca Latimer Felton Takes a BBC
07 New World
08 Same Kind of Lonely
09 Show and Tell
10 Heavy on My Mind
11 Hope for the Night
Benjamin Booker:
02-02 San Diego, CA – Soda Bar *
02-04 Santa Ana, CA – Constellation Room *
02-05 Los Angeles, CA – Lodge Room *
02-06 San Francisco, CA – The Chapel *
02-08 Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios *
02-09 Seattle, WA – Madame Lou’s *
02-10 Boise, ID – Neurolux *
02-11 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge *
02-13 Denver, CO – Marquis Theatre *
02-15 Omaha, NE – Reverb Lounge *
02-16 St. Paul, MN – Turf Club *
02-18 Chicago, IL – Subterranean *
02-19 Ferndale, MI – Magic Bag *
02-21 Toronto, Ontario – Longboat Hall *
02-22 Montreal, Québec – L’Esco *
02-23 Boston, MA – Crystal Ballroom *
02-25 Brooklyn, NY – Public Records *
02-26 Brooklyn, NY – Public Records *
02-27 Philadelphia, PA – Kung Fu Necktie *
02-28 Washington, D.C. – Union Stage *
03-02 Asheville, NC – Eulogy *
03-03 Atlanta, GA – Aisle 5 *
03-05 Nashville, TN – 3rd and Lindsley *
03-07 New Orleans, LA – Siberia *
* with Kenny Segal