“Blue Rose” by Amen Dunes

Amen Dunes, is the project of New Yorker Damon McMahon. The artist will release his new full-length, Freedom, March 30th on Sacred Bones. On the “exquisitely flowing structure and New Wave momentum” of lead single “Miki Dora,” “McMahon invites you to ‘roll around with me’ and the rest of the world seems to dissolve. Today, Amen Dunes has shared the album’s second single, “Blue Rose.” Read the artist’s statement below, as told to FADER.

“Shot in Queens, NY and directed by Alex Goldberg, the video moves from McMahon’s narration to the depiction of his younger self (Alberto Olivier) propelled by smoke and fantasy into a dream world of friends (Julio Peralta, Carlos Pavon, Zelda Santiago, and Kevin Nazon) and escapism, in some ways no different from today: ‘I don’t get down; I’m a mile away. When evening comes, I go call up the band.’

The lyrics that follow are a battle cry to the narrator’s original oppressor:

‘Well, hear me Paul, I will stick around
I’m the baddest, stoniest thing in town

Kill off my father, yeah love came over me
If you want war, then you got war with me

The way I was brought up, we were told things never to tell
Bitter, beaten down, stop! They don’t know; kick em down

Fame!

For a while I had no way out
Not now, not now, catch it now

They said that I should move on from here
Combed out my hair, started out, and my dreams took half a drag
Can’t tell my poor mind to leave me, yeah I can’t catch a break
You weren’t much a man to me, but you’re the only one I ever had.’”

Amen Dunes
Tour Dates:

Sat. March 31 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Tue. April 10 – Eugene, OR @ McDonald Theatre *
Wed. April 11 – Sacramento, CA @Crest Theatre *
Thu. April 12 – San Pedro, CA @ Warner Grand *
Sat. April 14 – Marfa, TX @ Marfa Myths
Sun. April 15 – San Diego, CA @ Humphreys Concerts By The Bay *
Tue. April 17 – Pomona, CA @ Fox Pomona *
Wed. April 18 – San Luis Obispo, CA @ Madonna Expo Center *
Fri. April 20 – Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre *
Mon. April 23 – Berlin, DE @ Privatclub
Tue. April 24 – Hamburg, DE @ Goldener Salon
Wed. April 25 – Copenhagen, DK @ Hotel Cecil
Fri. April 27 – Brussels, BE @ Grand Salon Boutique
Sat. April 28 – Paris, FR @ Badaboum
Mon. April 30 – Brighton, UK @ Prince Albert
Tue. May 1 – Leeds, UK @ Headroom House
Wed. May 2 – London, UK @ Omeara
Mon. May 7 – Houston, TX @ Revention Music Center *
Tue. May 8 – San Antonio, TX @ The Tobin Center for The Performing Arts *
Thu. May 10 – El Paso, TX @ Abraham Chavez Theatre *
Sat. May 12 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater *
Mon. May 14 – Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom *
Tue. May 15 – St Louis, MO @ Peabody Opera House *
Thu. May 17 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Benedum Center for The Performing Arts *
Fri. May 18 – Washington, DC @ Anthem *
Sat. May 19 – Columbus, OH @ Express Live *
Mon. May 21 – Nashville, TN @ The Ryman *
Tue. May 22 – Nashville, TN @ The Ryman *
Wed. May 23 – Louisville, KY @ Iroquois Amphitheater *
Thu. May 24 – Indianapolis, IN @ The Murat Theatre *
Sat. May 26 – South Burlington, VT – The Green at Shelburne Museum *
Thu. June 7 – Sat. June 9 – Porto, PT @ Primavera
Thu. June 14 – Sun. June 17 – Dover, DE @ Firefly Festival
Thu. Aug. 30 – Sep. 2 – Dorset, UK @ End of the Road Festival
Thu. Sept. 6 – Sun. Sept. 9 – Portmeirion, UK @ Festival No. 6

* w/ Fleet Foxes

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