Today dEUS share their first new music in over 10 years. Must Have Been New is the first single to be taken from their new and eighth studio album How To Replace It, set for release on 17th February 2023 through [PIAS] Recordings.
Distinctive and inventive, melodic yet defiantly off-kilter. Unique. And above all, unmistakably dEUS. Must Have Been New ticks all the boxes. A short intro gives way to an assured and fiery Tom Barman with rambling acoustic guitars dusted off by distorted licks and percussion. Gospel-like backing vocals add a fresh and majestic feel to the chorus, turning this into an epic and remarkable trip just shy of 4 minutes. A genuine group effort, all members sharing writing credits, the song presented itself during one of the short, explosive jam sessions the band organized.
“I was playing the piano and I asked our drummer Steph to give me a waltz rhythm”, founding member and multi-instrumentalist Klaas Janzoons remembers, “I instantly came up with the verse and chorus chords, Tom added a middle eight and we had the core of the song. But in typical dEUS fashion, it took a whole lot of time and energy to get to the final result.”
This first taste of new music in over a decade reminds us how vital a band dEUS are. They remain indie stalwarts, pushing ever forward, endlessly curious and creatively restless; “After so many years, we want to do so many festivals, and play in so many places,” he says. “We can’t fucking wait to do these songs live.”
Listen to Must Have Been New here: https://deus.ffm.to/musthavebeennew
New album How To Replace It is dEUS at their enigmatic best. Ten years seems like a very long time, but they’ve never really been away. There was the Selected Songs 1994-2014 compilation to put together, the Soft Electric tour, numerous festival appearances, and anniversaries to celebrate – their magnum opus, The Ideal Crash, turned 20; a 65-date European tour for it took up over a year in preparation and execution.
“Things always take longer than you think,” Tom Barman says laconically, “but this was not a ten-year project.” It wasn’t even four years either, and although concrete plans were laid down in 2018 – calendars cleared, sessions booked – there was rehearsing and touring The Ideal Crash, and, of course, the pandemic. But the band’s way of working changed too. For the previous two records, jam sessions were long and structured – five days a week, noon till 6pm – with songs being moulded and developed over time. How To Replace It however, came together during concentrated, short and explosive jams. With a lot of classic and time consuming dEUS finetuning and sculpting afterwards. Old habits die hard…
Twenty-eight years after their debut record, dEUS remain indie stalwarts, pushing ever forward, endlessly curious and creatively restless.
“After so many years, we want to do so many festivals, and play in so many places,” Barman says. “We can’t fucking wait to do these songs live.”
dEUS will take How To Replace It on tour in March and April:
08.03.23 — ROCKHAL, LUXEMBOURG (LUX)
10.03.23 — ZWOLLE, HEDON (NL)
11.03.23 — DOORNROOSJE, NIJMEGEN (NL)
14.03.23 — ANCIENNE BELGIQUE, BRUSSELS (BE)
15.03.23 — ANCIENNE BELGIQUE, BRUSSELS (BE)
20.03.23 — HUXLEYS NEUE WELT, BERLIN (DE)
21.03.23 — BACKSTAGE WERK, MUNICH (DE)
22.03.23 — ARENA, VIENNA (AT)
24.03.23 — LA BELLE ELECTRIQUE, GRENOBLE (FR)
25.03.23 — ELYSEE MONTMARTRE, PARIS (FR)
26.03.23 — BÜRGERHAUS STOLLWERCK, COLOGNE (DE)
28.03.23 — KAUFLEUTEN, ZURICH (CH)
29.03.23 — MAGAZZINI GENERALI, MILAN (IT)
31.03.23 — RAZZMATAZZ 2, BARCELONA (ES)
01.04.23 — LA PAQUI, MADRID (ES)
02.04.23 — COLISEU RECREIOS, LISBON (PT)
05.04.23 — MELKWEG, AMSTERDAM (NL)
06.04.23 — MAASSILO, ROTTERDAM (NL)
11.04.23 — ELECTRIC BRIXTON, LONDON (UK)
17.04.23 — TIVOLI VREDENBURG, UTRECHT (NL)
18.04.23 — TIVOLI VREDENBURG, UTRECHT (NL)
19.04.23 — PAARD, DEN HAAG (NL).
