black midi - photo by abita jefferson

black midi share wild "Sugar/Tzu" video, expand North American tour

UK band black midi release their new album, Hellfire, this week, and just ahead of that they’ve shared the video for “Sugar/Tzu.” Directed by Noel Paul, the video for this frenetic, jazzy track features talking monkeys, boxing matches, and other wild, intense imagery.

The band’s Greep says the song and video “imagines that in 2163 it’s possible to see a championship fight between two 600 lb men. Albeit in a so-called ‘Leadweight’ division. The fight is between Sun Sugar and Sun Tzu; the latter being a fan of the Chinese general, hoping to channel his strength; and the former looking to continue the lineage of Sugar Ray Robinson, Leonard etc.” You can watch the video, and read more about the track, below.

You can catch black midi on tour this summer and fall, including dates with fellow UK band Black Country, New Road and Quelle Chris. They’ve just added a few more shows, including Austin, Pittsburgh and Toronto. Dates include Asbury Park’s Asbury Lanes on July 23 with keiyaA and a free NYC show at SummerStage in Central Park on July 24 with Sal Valentinetti and Sarah Squirm. All dates are listed below.

“Sugar/Tzu” “imagines that in 2163 it’s possible to see a championship fight between two 600 lb men. Albeit in a so-called ‘Leadweight’ division,” explains Greep. “The fight is between Sun Sugar and Sun Tzu; the latter being a fan of the Chinese general, hoping to channel his strength; and the former looking to continue the lineage of Sugar Ray Robinson, Leonard etc.”

“Present at their battle is a young boy who stands just over three feet tall. At ringside, he briefly exchanges a glance with Sun Sugar, who, in perhaps an attempt to inspire, comes over to the boy and shakes his hand. It is then revealed, as the contender walks back to the action, that the boy is in fact a killer. He takes a small pistol from his little jacket and shoots the man in the back, honour be damned. The boy believes this not to be a cruel act, but a virtuous one, with his interference giving the audience an ultimate, rare entertainment.

“As Sun Sugar hits the deck, the crowd cheer and scream, believing this only to be the result of a particularly vicious shot from Sun Tzu.

“There is a little joke here. It is regular for a boxing audience to bemoan an early stoppage, the official stepping in to save a fighter who could’ve gone on. And while there is the surface agreement of most that ‘it was the right thing to do,’ there seems to be often left unsaid the fact that we actually do want to see a brutal knockout. And in the split second where these one-shot, punch-perfect, coma-inducing blows do occur, there is an undeniable rush. The boy in this story feels he is a hero for giving the crowd what they all really want. This is not to say the song is a critique of boxing or anything of the like – I love the sport – but it is an interesting and rare phenomenon worth exploring.”

black midi – Tour Dates
Wed. July 13 – London, UK @ Summer Series at Somerset House
Fri. July 15 – Riga, LV @ Positivus Festival
Sun. July 17 – Dour, BE @ Dour Festival
Thu. July 21 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club #
Sat. July 23 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes #
Sun. July 24 – New York, NY @ Central Park SummerStage %
Fri. July 29 – Puglia, IT @ Sud Est Indipendente
Sun. July 31 – Sesto al Reghena, IT @ Sexto’Nplugged
Mon. Aug. 1 – Sestri Levante, IT @ Mojotic Festival
Fri. Aug. 12 – Rees Haldern, DE @ Haldern Pop
Mon. Aug. 15 – Stockholm, SE @ Debaser
Wed. Aug. 17 – Essen, DE @ Ruhrtriennale
Sun. Aug. 21 – Winterthur, CH @ Winterthurer Musikfestwochen
Fri. Aug. 26 – La Tour de Peilz, CH @ Nox Orae
Thu. Sep. 1 – Sun. Sep. 4 – Dorset, UK @ End of the Road Festival
Sat. Sep. 3 – Manchester, UK @ Manchester Psych Fest
Tue. Sep. 6 – Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head Live *
Wed. Sep. 7 – Richmond, VA @ The National *
Fri. Sep. 9 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel *
Sat. Sep. 10 – Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre *
Mon. Sep. 12 – Birmingham, AL @ Saturn *
Wed. Sep. 14 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall *
Fri. Sep. 16 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk *
Sat. Sep. 17 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk *
Tue. Sep. 20 – Tucson, AZ @ Hotel Congress Plaza *
Thu. Sep. 22 – Pomona, CA @ The Glass House *
Fri. Sep. 23 – San Diego, CA @ Music Box *
Sat. Sep. 24 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern Theatre *
Tue. Sep. 27 – San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield Theatre *
Wed. Sep. 28 – Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s *
Thu. Sep. 29 – Reno, NV @ Cargo Concert Hall *
Mon. Oct. 3 – Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre @
Tue. Oct. 4 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre @
Fri. Oct. 7 – Lawrence, KS @ The Granada @
Sat. Oct. 8 – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown @
Sun. Oct. 9 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue @
Wed. Oct. 12 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall @
Fri. Oct. 14 – Columbus, OH @ The Athenaeum Theatre @
Sat. Oct. 15 – Louisville, KY @ Headliners Music Hall @
Mon. Oct 17 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Spirit Hall ^
Tue. Oct. 18 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
Fri. Oct. 28 – Liverpool, UK @ Invisible Wind Factory
Sat. Oct. 29 – Newcastle, UK @ NX
Sun. Oct. 30 – Cardiff, UK @ Llias at Wales Millenium Centre
Tue. Nov. 1 – Antwerp, BE @ Trix
Wed. Nov. 2 – Paris, FR @ Bataclan
Thu. Nov. 3 – Lyon, FR @ Marché Gare
Sat. Nov. 5 – Berlin, DE @ Pitchfork Festival
Mon. Nov. 7 – Copenhagen, DK @ Vega
Wed. Nov. 9 – Utrecht, NL @ Tivoli
Thu. Nov. 10 – Rotterdam, NL @ Maasssilo
Mon. Nov. 14 – Glasgow, UK @ Old Fruitmarket
Wed. Nov. 16 – Bristol, UK @ SWX
Sat. Nov. 19 – Mexico City, MX @ Corona Capital Music Festival
Sun. Dec. 4 – Tokyo, JP @ O-East
Mon. Dec. 5 – Osaka, JP @ Club Quattro
Tue. Dec 6 – Nagoya, JP @ The Bottom Line

# = with keiyaA
% = with Sal Valentinetti, Sarah Squirm
* = with Black Country, New Road
@ = with Quelle Chris
^ = with Horsegirl