Fruit Bats announce 20th anniversary compilation, share new song "Rips Me Up"

Fruit Bats (aka Eric D. Johnson) will release a two-disc 20th anniversary compilation, Sometimes a Cloud Is Just a Cloud: Slow Growers, Sleeper Hits and Lost Songs (2001–2021), on January 28 via Merge (pre-order). The first disc features fan favorites (“the collection that you buy for your friend that’s Fruit Bats–curious,” Eric says), while the second disc features deeper cuts. The compilation also includes a previously unreleased song, “Rips Me Up,” which was recorded during the sessions for this year’s The Pet Parade. It’s got a real ’70s-rock-with-soul-backing-vocals vibe, and Eric and his collaborators do a ton of justice to that sound. He says:

Every once and a while, you’ll record a song for an album and that song feels really great but also vibes like an emotional and/or sonic outlier from the others. Here’s one of those from The Pet Parade sessions. Hopefully this gets put somewhere in the pantheon of “trying to be a better man” songs. I’m not sure why I wrote it. I must have been feeling uneasy that day. Oh, also: yeah, I know it’s always weird when an artist puts a new song on a “greatest hits” album. But since I’ve never really truly had a “hit,” I figured I could break that rule here and put it on this new compilation and retrospective. Joe Russo and Nathan Vanderpool and Josh Mease and Josh Kaufman are on here. They are all wonderful. Enjoy this little ripper.

Listen to the new song below.

Fruit Bats also have a 2022 tour coming up, including a Brooklyn show on 4/20 at Music Hall of Williamsburg (tickets). All dates are listed below.

Before that, Eric’s folk trio Bonny Light Horseman (with Anaïs Mitchell and Josh Kaufman) will be on a co-headlining tour with Anaïs, including a show at NYC’s Webster Hall on Valentine’s Day (tickets).

Fruit Bats — 2022 Tour Dates
Mar 02-05 Cancún, MX – My Morning Jacket’s One Big Holiday
Mar 09 Santa Barbara, CA – SOhO Music Club
Mar 10 Los Angeles, CA – The Lodge Room
Mar 11 San Francisco, CA – The Chapel*
Mar 12 San Francisco, CA – The Chapel*
Mar 13 Sacramento, CA – Harlow’s
Mar 17 Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom
Mar 18 Vancouver, BC – Hollywood Theatre
Mar 19 Seattle, WA – The Showbox
Apr 07 Dallas, TX – The Kessler Theater
Apr 08 Austin, TX – 3TEN at ACL Live*
Apr 09 Austin, TX – 3TEN at ACL Live*
Apr 10 Houston, TX – The Heights Theater
Apr 12 New Orleans, LA – Tipitina’s
Apr 13 Birmingham, AL – Saturn
Apr 14 Nashville, TN – Basement East
Apr 15 Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse
Apr 16 Durham, NC – Motorco Music Hall
Apr 17 Richmond, VA – Richmond Music Hall
Apr 19 Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
Apr 20 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
Apr 21 Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair
Apr 22 Woodstock, NY – Levon Helm Studios [SOLD OUT]
Apr 23 Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
Apr 26 Toronto, ON – Great Hall
Apr 27 Detroit, MI – El Club
Apr 28 Indianapolis, IN – HI-FI
Apr 29 Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
May 06 Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater*
May 07 Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater*
* Different set lists, no repeat songs