John Moreland Skewers Commerce and Self-Image in ‘Harder Dreams’
John Moreland sings about war, religion, and commerce in his new song “Harder Dreams.” The track is the latest release off his upcoming album LP5, due February 7th.
Minimally produced by Matt Pence, with a brushed beat and accents of plinking notes, the song is carried by Moreland’s pained vocal. “Is the truth a work of fiction?” he asks at one point, before delivering a devastating line about possession and self-image: “I don’t belong to you and you don’t belong to me/you’ve got ads to sell, so you tell me that’s who I need to be.”
LP5 is the follow-up to the Oklahoma singer-songwriter’s 2017 effort Big Bad Luv. In October, he previewed the album with the plainspoken “East October.” He’ll launch a spring tour in support of LP5 in Arkansas in March with his collaborator and onstage partner, the multi-instrumentalist John Calvin Abney.
John Moreland’s tour dates:
March 14 – Bentonville, AR @ Meteor Guitar Gallery *
March 15 – Little Rock, AR @ South On Main *
March 17 – Birmingham, AL @ Saturn *
March 18 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West *
March 20 – Nashville, TN @ Basement East ^
March 21 – Knoxville, TN @ Bijou Theatre ^
March 22 – Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle ^
March 24 – Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom ^
March 25 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat ^
March 27 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg ^
March 28 – Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live ^
March 29 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair ^
March 31 – Montreal, QC @ L’Esco ^
April 1 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern ^
April 3 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall ^
April 4 – East Moline, IA @ The Rust Belt ^
April 5 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Back Room at Colectivo ^
April 7 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Fine Line ^
April 8 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room ^
April 9 – Wichita, KS @ The Wave ^
April 11 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Tower Theatre ^
April 30 – Dallas, TX @ The Kessler Theater +
May 1 – Houston, TX @ The Heights Theater +
May 2 – Austin, TX @ Antone’s +
May 5 – Tuscon, AZ @ 191 Toole +
May 7 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom +
May 8 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent +
May 10 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge +
May 12 – Vancouver, BC @ Wise Hall +
May 13 – Seattle, WA @ The Neptune Theatre +
May 15 – Salt Lake City, UT @ State Room +
May 16 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater +
May 17 – Colorado Spring, CO @ Lulu’s Downstairs +
* w/ Justin Peter Kinkel-Schuster
^ w/ S.G. Goodman
+ w/ Will Johnson