American Football have announced a 25th anniversary reissue of their self-titled debut album – as well as a new covers edition featuring Ethel Cain, Blondshell and more. Find all the details below.
The US band released the seminal ‘American Football’ (aka ‘LP1’) back in 1999, and followed it up with two full-length records of the same name: 2016’s ‘LP2’ and 2019’s ‘LP3’.
Today (July 31), it has been confirmed that the group will drop a completely remastered version of ‘LP1’ – titled ‘American Football (25th Anniversary Edition)’ – on October 18 via Polyvinyl.
The collection is set to be accompanied by ‘American Football (Covers)’, which sees a different artist take on each of the album’s nine tracks. Ethel Cain recorded a rendition of ‘For Sure’, while Blondshell covered ‘The Summer Ends’.
Also appearing are Manchester Orchestra (on ‘Stay Home’), Iron & Wine (‘Never Meant’), Novo Amor & Lowswimmer (‘Honestly?’), Girl Ultra (‘But The Regrets Are Killing Me’) and more.
To preview the anniversary releases, American Football have shared the newly remastered ‘Never Meant’ along with Iron & Wine’s “warm and transformative” interpretation of the song.
The latter comes with an official music video directed by Alec Basse and Max Moore – tune in here:
Iron & Wine (aka Sam Beam) recorded his cover of ‘Never Meant’ with producer Brad Cook (Bon Iver, Waxahatchee).
“My neighbour Brad Cook and I have been circling each other hoping to work on something for a bit,” Beam explained in a statement.
“When I was asked about this project, it felt like the perfect opportunity. Especially a song that I knew meant a lot to American Football’s fans. Honoured to be part of this and hoping we did it justice.”
Speaking about Beam’s involvement in the project, American Football’s Steve Lamos added: “When the first Iron & Wine record came out, it threaded the needle between Townes Van Zandt and Elliott Smith.
“It felt like if Nick Drake grew up with us listening to Fugazi before pivoting to making bedroom art folk. In other words, it was exactly what we would have been making if our first record came out when we were 28 instead of 22.”
He concluded: “Sam Beam is an incredible songwriter and interpreter of song, and it is beyond flattering that he would take the time to interpret one of ours.”
American Football teased the project last week on social media, leading fans to believe that new music was imminent.
A 24-second video slowly panned out from the 704 W High Street house in Urbana, Illinois – which features on the cover artwork for both ‘LP1’ and its 2016 follow-up, ‘LP2’.
Last year, American Football revealed that they had purchased the property (now known among fans as ‘The American Football House’) “in an effort to preserve its place and legacy within the community that built it”.
The cover artwork for the upcoming ‘American Football (Covers)’ shows the house at various stages of the night through nine different photographs, with the video for Iron & Wine’s cover using phantasmal footage of Beam transposed across its walls.
You can pre-order/pre-save both albums here, and see the full tracklists below.
‘American Football (25th Anniversary Edition)’ tracklist:
1. ‘Never Meant’
2. ‘The Summer Ends’
3. ‘Honestly?’
4. ‘For Sure’
5. ‘You Know I Should Be Leaving Soon’
6. ‘But The Regrets Are Killing Me’
7. ‘I’ll See You When We’re Both Not So Emotional’
8. ‘Stay Home’
9. ‘The One With the Wurlitzer’
‘American Football (Covers)’ tracklist:
1. Iron & Wine – ‘Never Meant’
2. Blondshell – ‘The Summer Ends’
3. Novo Amor & Lowswimmer – ‘Honestly?’
4. Ethel Cain – ‘For Sure’
5. Yvette Young – ‘You Know I Should Be Leaving Soon’
6. Girl Ultra – ‘But The Regrets Are Killing Me’
7. M.A.G.S. – ‘I’ll See You When We’re Both Not So Emotional’
8. Manchester Orchestra – ‘Stay Home’
9. John McEntire – ‘The One With the Wurlitzer’
American Football are due to embark on headline tours in the UK and US this autumn to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their 1999 self-titled debut album. The stint includes a headline gig at the Roundhouse in Camden Town, London on September 14.
Find any remaining tickets here (UK) and here (North America).
American Football’s 2024 tour dates are:
SEPTEMBER
11 – Rock City, Nottingham
12 – Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow
13 – SWX, Bristol
14 – Roundhouse, London
27 – Thalia Hall, Chicago
28 – Thalia Hall, Chicago
OCTOBER
11 – Best Friends Forever Festival, Las Vegas
12 – El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles
13 – El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles
24 – Howard Theatre, Washington, DC
25 – Howard Theatre, Washington, DC
26 – Warsaw, Brooklyn, NY
27 – Warsaw, Brooklyn, NY
NOVEMBER
16 – Corona Capital Festival, Mexico City
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