Renowned alt-rock trio Failure is set to bring their Location Lost tour to New York City at Le Poisson Rouge on May 12, following the recent release of their new album Location Lost. The album, which is their seventh studio album (and their fourth since returning from a 17 year long hiatus in 2014), was released on April 24, and offers listeners a sprawling, unpredictable collection that finds the band pushing into new territory without abandoning the dense emotional core that’s made them so beloved in the first place.

Much like the trio (Ken Andrews, Greg Edwards, and Kelli Scott) that make up the band, Location Lost carries a sense of relentless tenacity, as its inception was born from a moment of personal struggle, and even disconnect from the music itself. Frontman Ken Andrews began writing the record while recovering from a serious surgery that left him feeling creatively disconnected, emotionally disoriented, and even outright frustrated over the entire creative process. Rather than fighting that instability, Failure leaned into it. The result is a record that sounds equal parts expansive and intimate all at once, moving between crushing walls of sound, dreamlike slow burns, admittedly rare ballads, and some of the most direct songwriting the band has ever released.

While Location Lost’s devotion to Failure’s ethos will certainly satisfy longtime listeners throughout the entire tracklist, this album also notably features Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams on “The Rising Skyline,” a collaboration that feels especially fitting considering her longtime admiration for the band.

Although Failure’s influence has quietly threaded its way through the alternative music scene for years now, with the band’s history tracing back for as long as three decades, the band’s unwitting refusal to calcify into nostalgia keeps the music feeling fresh. No matter the circumstances around an album’s creation that may arise, Failure always sits at the intersection of embracing the uncomfortable and holding to what’s honest. 

Which is maybe why, even for a band whose music has spent years wrestling with disconnection, distortion, and collapse, Location Lost feels oddly hopeful. Not in a clean or triumphant way. More like three musicians continuing to find each other in the static.

You can get tickets to Failure’s Location Lost tour here.