Hiss Golden Messenger have announced Jump For Joy, their follow-up to 2021’s Quietly Blowing It and holiday album O Come All Ye Faithful. Jump For Joy is due August 25 via Merge (pre-order), and frontman M.C. Taylor wrote much of it in 2022 through the perspective of a semi-autobiographical character he created, as he explains:

Creating this character became the way that I could explore these vulnerable, tender moments that were so decisive in my life, even if I didn’t know it at the time… I was able to get inside these places that exist so deep in my sense memory: Me at 16, knowing intuitively that there had to be something out there for me, something mysterious and divine that wasn’t full of fucked-up, confusing pain; me with my hardcore band, age 18, wandering the vast expanses of Texas beneath a big, fat tangerine moon, scrounging change to fill the gas tank, trying to make a soundcheck for a show that never happened. There’s me at 30, having kids, writing songs as though they were gravestone epitaphs, not yet understanding that nothing is so permanent and serious and that I needed to be gentler with my spirit. There’s me at 35, still chasing the thing because I’ve touched it once or twice and I know it’s the only way for me to feel whole and real and useful, but in the rear-view mirror, I can see everyone who gave up in search of something easier and not so heartbreaking.

The first glimpse at Jump For Joy is satirical soda ad “Nu-Grape,” a groovy, gospel-tinged rock track that comes with an equally absurd music video starring M.C. Taylor with Jonny Fritz and Andy Frasco. Check out “Nu-Grape” below.

Hiss Golden Messenger have also announced an extensive run of tour dates through the end of the year, with support from William Tyler & The Impossible Truth, Sylvie, Adeem The Artist, and The Lostines on various dates. See all dates below.

The NYC show is on October 21 at Webster Hall, with Sylvie. Tickets to that and all dates go on sale Friday, June 9 at 10am local, with various presales starting Thursday, June 1 at 1pm.

HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER – JUMP FOR JOY TRACKLIST
1 20 Years and a Nickel (3:10)
2 Alice (0:24)
3 I Saw the New Day in the World (3:21)
4 Shinbone (3:47)
5 Little Pink Church (0:54)
6 Jesus Is Bored (4:07)
7 Nu-Grape (3:28)
8 Feeling Eternal (3:25)
9 Jump for Joy (3:04)
10 The Wondering (3:57)
11 Palo Santo/Cloud Mesa (0:29)
12 California King (2:46)
13 My Old Friends (3:32)
14 Sunset on the Faders (3:34)

Hiss Golden Messenger — 2023 Tour Dates
July 21 – Waldoboro, ME – Waldo Theatre (M.C. Taylor Solo)
July 22 – Portland, ME – One Longfellow Square (M.C. Taylor Solo) [SOLD OUT]
July 23 – Portland, ME – One Longfellow Square (M.C. Taylor Solo) [SOLD OUT]
August 4-8 – Kaslo Bay Park, BC – Kaslo Jazz Etc. Fest
September 15 – Saxapahaw, NC – Haw River Ballroom
September 16 – Saxapahaw, NC – Haw River Ballroom+
September 17 – Saxapahaw, NC – Haw River Ballroom
October 19 – Richmond, VA – Richmond Music Hall at Capital Ale House*
October 20 – Washington, D.C. – 9:30 Club*
October 21 – New York, NY – Webster Hall*
October 22 – Ardmore, PA – Ardmore Music Hall*
October 25 – Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair*
October 26 – Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair*
October 27 – Holyoke, MA – Race Street Live*
October 28 – Montreal, QC – Bar Le Ritz PDB*
October 29 – Toronto, ON – Phoenix Concert Theatre*
November 1 – Detroit, MI – El Club*
November 2 – Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall Ballroom*
November 3 – Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line*
November 4 – Chicago, IL – Metro*
November 5 – Indianapolis, IN – HI-FI Indy*
November 7 – Birmingham, AL – Saturn#
November 9 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl#
November 10 – Atlanta, GA – Terminal West#
November 11 – Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel#
November 28 – Austin, TX – Antone’s Nightclub#
November 29 – Austin, TX – Antone’s Nightclub#
November 30 – Oklahoma City, OK – Beer City Music Hall#
December 1 – Omaha, NE – The Waiting Room#
December 2 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre#
December 4 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Commonwealth Room#
December 5 – Boise, ID – Knitting Factory#
December 7 – Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theatre^
December 8 – Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre^
December 9 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall^
December 10 – Eugene, OR – W.O.W. Hall^
December 11 – Sacramento, CA – Harlow’s^
December 13 – Petaluma, CA – Mystic Theatre^
December 14 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore^
December 15 – Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour^
December 16 – Los Angeles, CA – Lodge Room^
December 30 – Charleston, SC – Charleston Pour House
December 31 – Charleston, SC – Charleston Pour House
March 1–8, 2024 – Miami, FL – Cayamo Cruise

+ with special guest William Tyler & The Impossible Truth
* with special guest Sylvie
# with special guest Adeem The Artist
^ with special guest The Lostines