US electro-industrial/synth-pop act Assemblage 23 has presented the first single, "Tolerate", from its upcoming album, Null, due on 7 November via Metropolis Records.
"The song is about the increasingly common situation of having to cut people out of your life because they hold harmful beliefs", explains Assemblage 23's mastermind, Tom Shear. "Even tolerant people have a line that, once crossed, causes them to have to react this way. It is a topical portrait of our current political climate and the fallout it can have in our personal lives."
"Tolerate" is typical of Shear's oeuvre in that what has separated Assemblage 23 from most other musically comparable acts from the outset has been the deeply personal and relatable manner of his song lyrics. Often broaching difficult subjects such as suicide and depression, he has gained a significant worldwide following and continues to perform around the globe.
Null is the tenth album by Assemblage 23, but the first since 2020's Mourn. It will be pre-promoted with a UK tour in October, immediately followed by a one-off show in Germany (see below). Link
* Assemblage 23 - UK tour:
15 October - BRISTOL (Exchange)
16 October - MANCHESTER (Rebellion)
17 October - GLASGOW (Ivory Blacks)
18 October - SHEFFIELD (Corporation)
19 October - LONDON (The Dome)
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20 October - OBERHAUSEN (Kulttempel)
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"There's much more detail in our music now than 20 years ago. It's also much easier nowadays because you can do many things at home." - Morten Lybecker
"They wrote that we wanted to influence people's minds with our bagpipes so that they would be willing to attack the police." - Irdorath
"With Hypocrisy, I'm very "home", but with Pain, it's an adventure, just like going into the jungle only with a knife and no glass of water and trying to survive." - Peter Tägtgren
"I'm sort of asking questions - where are the heroes? Where's the defiance? Where are the people who oppose this?" - Alan "Nemtheanga" Averill
