Arkells have released their new track, “Teenage Tears” featuring Tegan and Sara today. The track arrives ahead of their seventh studio record, Blink Twice, out September 23rd via Virgin Records / Universal Music Canada. The melancholy video, shot in Vancouver’s famed and curious Kingsgate Mall, can be seen now below.
“There’s a particular kind of intense emotional pain that reminds me of high school,” says Arkells frontman Max Kerman. “It’s not worn down, chronic kind of pain. It’s a sharp and confusing sad. This song is about how occasionally you can still feel that kind of sadness as an adult. We were trying to do something that might feel somewhere between Olivia Rodrigo and The National or Bon Iver.”
“On Blink Twice, we wanted to include more voices on the record and we’re lucky enough to have a roster of pals who also happen to be our favourite musicians,” continues Kerman. “Tegan and Sara have long been an inspiration for us. They’ve made themselves the most formidable career by taking bold artistic chances. A few years ago I saw them tour their memoir called High School, about their upbringing in Calgary and discovering their sexuality and music as teenagers in the 90’s. It was part concert, part theatre, part book-reading. And it was perfect. They’re now turning that book into a TV show, and it comes out this fall.”
“Collaborating is something we love to do,” says Tegan Quin. “But these days our schedules are chaotic and so when Max reached out about collaborating on a song called Teenage Tears with Arkells, I prepared him for a no. The song felt melancholy and sweet and nostalgic in all the ways we love and Sara and I were won over after we heard it. We’ve been neck-deep in projects related to our own adolescence the last few years and so the song really hit.”
BLINK ONCE / TWICE 2022 TOUR:
Sept 9 – Berlin, GER – Lido w/ Lights
Sept 12 – Hamburg, GER – Knust w/ Lights
Sept 13 – Düsseldorf, GER – Zakk w/ Lights
Sept 15 – Norwich, UK – Waterfront Studio w/ Lights
Sept 16 – Bristol, UK – Thekla w/ Lights
Sept 17 – Birmingham, UK – O2 Institute 3 w/ Lights
Sept 19 – Leeds, UK – Brudenell Social Club w/ Lights
Sept 20 – Glasgow, UK – Oran Mor w/ Lights
Sept 22 – Manchester, UK – Club Academy w/ Lights
Sept 23 – London, UK – Brixton Electric w/ Lights
Sept 24 – Brighton, UK – Chalk w/ Lights
Sept 30 – Halifax, NS – Scotiabank Centre w/ Lights
Oct 20 – Winnipeg, MB – Canada Life Centre w/ K.Flay
Oct 22 – Grande Prairie, AB – Bonnetts Energy Centre w/ K.Flay
Oct 25 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena w/ K.Flay
Oct 28 – Calgary, AB – Scotiabank Saddledome w/ K.Flay
Oct 29 – Edmonton, AB – Rogers Place w/ K.Flay
Nov 24 – Ottawa, ON – TD Arena w/ Joel Plaskett Emergency