Boston’s Ripe has announced the coming release of its sophomore LP, Bright Blues, due to arrive on Friday, March 10th, 2023 via Glassnote Records. The high-energy outfit has also announced a national 2023 spring tour set to celebrate the record’s arrival.
The band—currently comprised of singer Robbie Wulfsohn, guitarist Jon Becker, drummer Sampson Hellerman, and trombonist Calvin Barthel—will kick off its 2023 tour in Texas in late March with shows in Dallas (3/28) and Austin (3/29). The trek takes Ripe through the Southeast, Midwest, and Northeast before the tour eventually wraps up in the Southwest in late April. Highlight stops along the way include the brand-new MGM Music Hall at Fenway in Boston, MA (4/8), Terminal 5 in New York, NY (4/15), and The Fillmore in San Francisco, CA (4/27).
The new album, the eclectic soul-pop outfit’s first since 2018’s Joy in the Wild Unknown, brings to bear both the last few years’ unrelenting adversities and the pop sensibilities of producer/songwriters Noah Conrad (BTS, Niall Horan), and Ryan Linvill (Olivia Rodrigo, Dermot Kennedy) in search of a more adventurous, self-assured sound.
“We thought, how can we do something new?” drummer Sampson Hellerman said of the new album. “Something that still has our sound and vibe at its core, how can we expand our boundaries and reach more audiences while still staying true to what makes Ripe Ripe?”
“The wildest thing for me is that the record simultaneously sounds like it has the scars of everything we’ve been through and also that it doesn’t,” added vocalist Robbie Wulfsohn. “It’s joyful music, which is very exciting given that it was made in the middle of getting hit in the stomach.”
Related: Ripe Brings 2021 Fall Tour To Rochester’s Anthology [Photos]
Get a taste of Bright Blues with the first two singles from the album, “Settling” and “Noise in the Forest“. Pre-save the album here. Click below to view the full track listing for the LP.
Tickets for the newly announced spring 2023 Ripe tour dates will go on sale on Friday, November 18th at 10:00 a.m. local venue time. Click below for a full list of upcoming dates. For complete ticketing details, head here.
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