"If I have to hear another fucking depressing Xiu Xiu song I will hang myself," says Xiu Xiu member Angela Seo. Their latest, "Wondering," off the recently released new album FORGET, bucks the "depressing" tag with an upbeat, even downright poppy vibe. Though fellow bandmate (and founder) Jamie Stewart is quick to note that it's not as positive as all that. "Well...to boogie is not always a sign of optimism," adds Stewart. "It came from appreciating Joe Meek and his bizarro teen melodrama master works of proto pop."
The video for "Wondering" at least nods to a cheerier vision, with Stewart, Seo and some pastel-gowned women as muses jumping on beds and playing with stuffed unicorns, candy cigarettes, and baby powder--a copious amount of baby powder. "I'm depressed. So I just wanted something pretty and pastel and cute and feminine to look at," Seo, who directed the video, says of its inspiration. Stewart calls out Toilet Paper Magazine and the late Chinese photographer Ren Hang, as well.
FORGET is out now, and Xiu Xiu will be on tour this spring (dates below).
March 16: Los Angeles, CA – Union
March 17: Escondido, CA – A Ship in The Woods
March 19: San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
March. 21: Seattle, WA – Kremwork
March 22: Portland, OR – Holocene
March 23 - 26: Knoxville, TN – Big Ears Festival
March 30: Detroit, MI – El Club
March 31: Chicago, IL – The Empty Bottle
April 1: Jacksonville, FL – The Sleeping Giant Film Festival
April 6: Brooklyn, NY – Villain
April 7: Philadelphia, PA – Boot & Saddle
April 8: Harrisburg, PA – Cathedral Room at Der Maennerchor
April 9: Baltimore, MD – The Wind-Up Space
April 11: Jersey City, NJ – Monty Hall
April 12: New Haven, CT – Bar
April 13: Providence, RI – Colombus Theatre
April 14: Portsmouth, NH – 3SArtspace
April 15: Boston, MA – The Hardcore Stadium (Cambridge Elks Lodge)