Automatic

Automatic share new single & video "Black Box" taken from their new album 'Is It Now?' via Stones Throw Records.

Automatic bring their singular modern touch, political prowess and a healthy dose of dark humor to their third album Is It Now? out this Friday, September 26 via Stones Throw.

Izzy Glaudini (synths, vocals), Halle Saxon (bass, vocals), and Lola Dompé (drums, vocals) believe that the message of change is best served with a backbeat and a cheeky groove.

The new collection cleverly uses their perky minimalist grooves and pop melodies as a Trojan horse to wheel in political commentary about the world’s oppressive structures: automated warfare, mindless consumerism, and the political influence of oil. 

New single “Black Box” infuses this post-punk spirit with spacey trip-hop beats and an irresistible melodic refrain.

Izzy says,

“The title ‘Black Box’ refers to the black box in a crashed plane. The repetitive synth is supposed to suggest a plane gliding as it crashes/ an alarm distress call. I was listening to the Leonard Cohen album The Future a lot around the time the lyrics were written.

It's a pretty straightforward critique of people that have sold out on a large scale, specifically within creative industries.

Thierry Mugler said, “art used to tell money what to do, now money tells art what to do” and the world is a less interesting place because of it.”

Working with a producer for the first time, Loren Humphrey (Tame Impala, Arctic Monkeys, Nice As Fuck, Cameron Winter), and balancing solo lives and varying temperaments, Automatic recorded Is It Now? in New York and L.A. They cast their net of influences wider, too, nodding to longtime favourite Patrick Cowley as well as A Certain Ratio, Air, and the moment in late-1970s British music when dub collided with punk.

Since their last record, 2022’s Excess, Automatic toured with Tame Impala, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Marías and IDLES. The band is currently in the midst of an extensive co-headlining tour with Sextile this fall and just announced a headline run in the UK and Europe.  

Is It Now? doesn’t pretend to have all the answers, but it might just inspire you to ask better questions — or at least dance yourself awake in the search.

Photo by Erica Snyder

Tour dates

North America

23/9: Montreal, QC @ Théâtre Fairmount

24/9: Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall

25/9: Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw

26/9: Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry @ The Fillmore

27/9: Washington, DC @ Black Cat

29/9: Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle Tavern & Music Hall

30/9: Nashville, TN @ The Blue Room at Third Man Records

1/10: Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade

3/10: Dallas, TX @ Studio at The Factory

4/10: Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall

5/10: Austin, TX @ Mohawk (Outside)

6/10: El Paso, TX @ The Lowbrow Palace

8/10: Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom

9/10: Las Vegas, NV @ Swan Dive

10/10: San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park

11/10: Los Angeles, CA @ The Novo

UK & Europe

12/11: Brighton, UK @ Daltons

13/11: London, UK @ The Lexington

15/11: Berlin, DE @ puschenfest

17/11: Cologne, DE @ Bumann & Sohn 

19/11: Metz, FR @ BAM

20/11: Paris, FR @ Petit Bain

21/11: La Rochelle, FR @ La Sirene

24/11: Milan, IT @ Circolo Arci Bellezza

25/11: Prague, CZ @ Bike Jesus

27/11: Munich, DE @ Milla