Dean Wareham has announced his new album,”That’s the Price of Loving Me,” out March 28th via Carpark Records and new tour dates. The record’s lead single, “You Were the Ones I Had to Betray,” is out now.
It was June of 1990 when Kramer and Dean Wareham last made a record together, Galaxie 500’s swan song This Is Our Music. “Things were a little tense in the band at that point,” says Dean. “But we had fun too. There were exciting musical moments that I remember vividly, and it was always something that Kramer suggested, like, ‘hey, why don’t you play something up high on the neck for ‘Fourth of July?’ I also remember we had to start late one day because Kramer insisted we had to attend the Friday matinee premiere of Total Recall.”
Their relationship extended beyond the studio, as Kramer hit the road with the band as their live sound engineer on European and U.K. tours, often sharing a twin hotel room with Dean. Yet with the demise of Galaxie 500 (the critically acclaimed This Is Our Music was their last album), Kramer and Wareham’s paths diverged.
Back then, they would not have guessed it would be 34 years until they went back into the studio together. Over time, they kept in touch, with Kramer gently reminding Dean, “it’s crazy we haven’t made a record since then!” But it wasn’t until the pandemic, after Dean lost a couple of close friends, that he realized it was time to stop talking about making a record and just make it happen.
The end result, That’s the Price of Loving Me, was recorded in just six full days in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles. Kramer decamped from his home in Asheville, N.C., and stayed with Dean and his wife Britta Phillips in Echo Park. And in a nod to the past, they once again took a break from recording one day to catch a matinee (this time: Kurosawa’s Ran).
Across That’s the Price of Loving Me’s 10 tracks, you can hear traces of Wareham and Kramer’s earlier work together, but today the chord progressions are more complex – drawing influence from Bacharach, Gainsbourg, Norma Tanega – and the arrangements are too. Yet Wareham’s signature electric guitar stylings still anchor the songs. Before he opens his mouth to sing, you can recognize his voice in the guitar lines. “Kramer insisted that I play all the guitars on this record,” says Dean. “And we worked quickly. Kramer believes that two takes yield more treasure than twenty, and he always seems to have the song mapped out in his head right away.”
“34 years is a long time,” says Kramer. “But I love Dean, so it was worth the wait. Going back into the studio with him again felt like we’d never been apart. And when the work was done, I felt like it couldn’t have been better. There was a ‘full circle’ air around us that still lingers. I’m grateful for having been invited inside again, and for the emotional opportunities that a truly deep and personal collaboration can offer. It’s incredibly rare, and I’d be surprised if I feel anything even remotely like this again.”
UK + EU:
April 1 – Glasgow, UK @ The Garage
April 2 – Manchester, UK @ Band on the Wall
April 3 – Liverpool, UK @ Hangar 34
April 4 – Leamington, UK @ The Assembly
April 5 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
April 6 – Bristol, UK @ The Fleece
April 7 – London, UK @ 229 London
April 18 – San Sebastián, ES @ Dabadaba
April 20 – Barcelona, ES @ Sala Upload
April 21 – València, ES @ 16 TONELADAS | ROCK CLUB
April 22 – Zaragoza, ES @ La Lata De Bombillas
April 24 – Granada, ES @ CajaGRANADA Cultural Center
April 25 – Madrid, ES @ Sala Villanos
USA:
May 10 – Joshua Tree, CA @ Pappy & Harriet’s
May 11 – Ojai, CA @ Deer Lodge
May 14 – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room
May 17 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
May 20 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
May 21 – Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern
