All Is Not Lost is a classic heartbreak ballad; hinting at a more modern r’n'b mode of writing, the strange but wonderful airlessness of such productions is replaced here with the electricity and liveliness of a straight to tape recording session, capturing the band in performance.

The accompanying video was directed by Swedish artist, Henrik Håkansson: “This film is a collage of projects that have recently been exhibited as single works, where bits and pieces are psyched together to create a visionary and open reading to words and music. The visions of my work use reflections of or by fragments in our surrounding environment, mirroring a personal statement on the state of our natural world today. In the end it is a shared vision of gain and loss.” You can watch the video here.

About Group can also announce a London album launch at the Dalston Victoria on July 4th. Purchase tickets here.

Between The Walls captures the sound of a band ‘playing’ together, in both senses of the word – experimenting and trying things, being playful, as much as being a group performing as a unit together. Between The Walls is the sound of people pushing towards and pulling against one another simultaneously. It is the sound of buzzing amplifiers, sudden musical non-sequiturs, loud blasts of straight synth lines cutting through melody and structure. And it is also the sound of beautiful and odd electronic textures and brilliantly defined and deliberate drums, underpinning fragile but deliberate performances of sad songs and country ballads.

Between The Walls will be available on CD (WIGCD292), LP (WIGLP292), DL (WIG292D) and on special edition 2 x CD, featuring a bonus disc with DJ loops, available through Dom mart and indie stores only. Pre-order the album HERE. Download album track, Walk On By, HERE.

About Group is
Charles Hayward (This Heat, Camberwell Now)
John Coxon (Spring Heel Jack, Spiritualized)
Pat Thomas (has played with Derek Bailey, Tony Oxley)
Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip)

Between The Walls is About Group’s last album with Charles Hayward who now moves on to other projects.

Alexis Taylor says of the video: “Award-winning visual artist Oliver Payne has made an incredibly beautiful, funny and very affecting video for A Stone In The Ground. Justus and I are really pleased with how Oliver’s video turned out – it is by far one of the most wonderful things I’ve been involved with, and certainly a breath of fresh air in the world of music videos. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.”

The single is available as a limited edition 12″ and a download via Moshi Moshi.

25/05 – Primavera (Parc del Forum, Barcelona, Spain)
01/06 – Ahmad Tea Music Festival (Hermitage Garden, Moscow, Russia)
13/07 – Ilosaarirock (Joensuu, Finland)
20/07 – Latitude Festival (Southwold, UK)
21/07 – Longitude Festival (Marlay Park, Dublin, Ireland)
27/07 – Blue Balls Festival (Luzern, Switzerland)
02/08 – Lollapolooza (Grant Park, Chicago, USA)
03/08 – The Grove Music Festival (Niagara-on-the-Lake, On, Canada)
04/08 – Osheaga Festival (Parc Jean-Drapeau, Montreal)
15/08 – Paredes de Coura (Porto, Portugal)
17/08 – Route de Rock (St Malo, France)

As well as Hot Chip live dates, there are various DJ dates by most band members taking place across the whole summer – the live pages were fully updated with all available dates last week, check there for details.

Between The Walls captures the sound of a band ‘playing’ together, in both senses of the word – experimenting and trying things, being playful, as much as being a group performing as a unit together. Between The Walls is the sound of people pushing towards and pulling against one another simultaneously. It is the sound of buzzing amplifiers, sudden musical non-sequiturs, loud blasts of straight synth lines cutting through melody and structure. And it is also the sound of beautiful and odd electronic textures and brilliantly defined and deliberate drums, underpinning fragile but deliberate performances of sad songs and country ballads. ‘The balance between songwriting and free playing, and a lack of clarity about which mode we will be in for any given amount of time, is the key to About Group.’ Alexis Taylor

Between The Walls will be available on CD, LP, download and on special edition 2 x CD, featuring a bonus disc with DJ loops which will be available through Dom mart and indie stores only. Pre-order the album HERE. Download album track, Walk On By, HERE.

The album features:

1 After Video
2 Walk On By
3 All Is Not Lost
4 Words
5 Graph Paper
6 Make The World Laugh
7 Love Because
8 Nightlife/Sinking
9 Untitled
10 I Never Lock That Door
11 Yes
12 If You Can’t Love Me

About Group are Charles Hayward (This Heat, Camberwell Now), John Coxon (Spring Heel Jack, Spiritualized)
Pat Thomas (played with Derek Bailey, Tony Oxley) and Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip).

The band’s U.S. dates continue this week with a show in Las Vegas on Thursday (with support from Four Tet) and a second Coachella set on Saturday evening (4/20). After that, the band begin an all out assault on the summer festival circuit, playing shows in Spain, Russia, Switzerland, Canada, France, the US and the UK. As always, all dates can be found in the live section of this site.

UPDATE: Joe’s mix of The Ramona Flowers is now online via Clash Magazine. Click here to listen.

AND ANOTHER UPDATE: Hear Joe’s mix of Chicken Lips here.

Available directly from the band HERE or from iTunes HERE.

Following on from the storming Hot Chip performances at Coachella, Felix and Al are bringing their “other” 7 piece band to the West Coast of the USA for the first time, and with it their unique blend of electronics, funk and raw energy.

In support is the excellent UK band NO CEREMONY///, making this something of a mini British invasion.

More details about each show below!

Saturday 27th April: Britweek Festival Show @ Echoplex, LA
Sunday 28th April: The Independent, San Francisco
Tuesday April 30th: Doug Fir Lounge, Portland
Wednesday May 1st: Neumos, Seattle