Hurray for the Riff Raff Releases “PIERCED ARROWS" From Upcoming Album, 'LIFE ON EARTH'

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Hurray for the Riff Raff (aka Alynda Segarra) releases “PIERCED ARROWS,” a new song on Nonesuch today. The track is from Segarra’s Nonesuch debut, LIFE ON EARTH, out February 18; its video, which you can see here, is directed by New Orleans-based artist Lucia Honey. Segarra calls it "a heartbreak song, lost in the realm of memory. Being stuck in the past, and finding the rapidly changing world uncanny and bizarre. Trying to outrun trauma. Finding a meeting place between tough and tender. Memory replaying inside/beside you, triggering fight or flight responses.”

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Hurray for the Riff Raff (aka Alynda Segarra) releases “PIERCED ARROWS,” a new song on Nonesuch Records today. The track is from Segarra’s Nonesuch debut, LIFE ON EARTH, out February 18; its video, which you can see below, is directed by New Orleans-based artist Lucia Honey. Hurray for the Riff Raff tours North America this spring, beginning March 19 in Atlanta and continuing through April 20 in Nashville, with stops in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York, among others (full schedule below; Anjimile supports). International tour dates will be announced soon. Life on Earth is available to preorder now here; preorders from the Nonesuch Store and the Hurray for the Riff Raff Store include a limited-edition signed print.

Life on Earth is a departure for the New Orleans-based Segarra (they/she). Its eleven new “nature punk” tracks on the theme of survival are music for a world in flux—songs about thriving, not just surviving, while disaster is happening. For their eighth full-length album, Segarra drew inspiration from The Clash, Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Bad Bunny, and the author of Emergent Strategy, adrienne maree brown. Recorded during the pandemic, Life on Earth was produced by Brad Cook (Waxahatchee, Bon Iver, Kevin Morby).

The album has received critical praise already, appearing on most anticipated records of 2022 lists by NPR, Pitchfork, the Guardian, Stereogum, the Observer, Vulture, the Wall Street Journal, Paste, the Evening Standard, and the Irish Times, among other. The Guardian says, “What’s most impressive about Life on Earth is the way Segarra metabolises bleak and disturbing subjects into songs that brim with hope, beauty and cheer,” while the Observer says, “Hurray for the Riff Raff promises a manual for Life on Earth, a ‘nature punk’ album for tough times,” and NPR’s Ann Powers says, “If you need some music to take you forward in this strange winter, I think Life on Earth is gonna do it for you.” Mojo, in its four-star review, calls it “a remarkably delicate, tender record full of gentle empathy, of lines that ring with the truth of shared experience. Hurray for The Riff Raff might not be able to save the world, but Life on Earth is a compassionate, humane record at a time when it can only be a gift.”

Segarra calls “Pierced Arrows,” “A heartbreak song, lost in the realm of memory. Being stuck in the past, and finding the rapidly changing world uncanny and bizarre. Trying to outrun trauma. Finding a meeting place between tough and tender. Memory replaying inside/beside you, triggering fight or flight responses.”

Lucia Honey says of the video, “We took inspiration from arthouse cinema from the turn of the millennium. Run Lola Run, Requiem for a Dream, My Own Private Idaho. We wanted ‘Pierced Arrows’ to have a gritty narrative feel but that still indulged in a surrealist aesthetic.

“The song lends itself to a narrative climax. The first time I heard it, I felt like I was in the middle of a brewing storm. I couldn’t escape the reference to Hurricane Ida, which hit Southern Louisiana hard in late August. This blended well with themes from Alynda’s song which is largely about running from a past that always catches up to you. Hence physical running in industrial landscapes. Metal. Trainyards. Escapism. Cold anxiety. Being stuck in a trauma loop.”

Alynda Segarra was born and raised in the Bronx, which they left at age seventeen, running away from everything and everyone they knew, hopping freight trains or hitchhiking across the country in the company of a band of street urchins. Segarra moved to New Orleans in 2007 and formed two bands: Dead Man’s Street Orchestra and Hurray for the Riff Raff. In 2015, Segarra decamped to Nashville, then to New York, to make 2017’s critically praised The Navigator, an ambitious and fully realized concept album that was her quest to reclaim her Puerto Rican identity. Segarra’s previous records as Hurray for the Riff Raff are Crossing the Rubicon (EP, 2007), It Don’t Mean I Don’t Love You (2008), Young Blood Blues (2010), Hurray for the Riff Raff (2011), Look Out Mama (2012), My Dearest Darkest Neighbor (2013), and Small Town Heroes (2014).

HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF ON TOUR

Mar 19 Terminal West Atlanta, GA
Mar 22 Antone's Austin, TX
Mar 25 Lodge Room Los Angeles, CA
Mar 26 Pappy & Harriet's Pioneertown, CA
Mar 29 Independent San Francisco, CA
Mar 31 Wonder Ballroom Portland, OR
Apr 1 Tractor Tavern Seattle, WA
Apr 2 Biltmore Cabaret Vancouver, BC
Apr 5 Urban Lounge Salt Lake City, UT
Apr 6 Bluebird Theater Denver, CO
Apr 8 Fine Line Minneapolis, MN
Apr 9 Thalia Hall Chicago, IL
Apr 10 Skully's Music Diner Columbus, OH
Apr 11 Horseshoe Tavern Toronto, ON
Apr 13 Paradise Rock Club Boston, MA
Apr 15 Elsewhere Brooklyn, NY
Apr 16 Underground Arts Philadelphia, PA
Apr 17 Union Stage Washington, DC
Apr 18 Motorco Music Hall Raleigh, NC
Apr 20 Basement East Nashville, TN
     
May 20 Tomavistas Festival Madrid, SPAIN
     
featuredimage
Hurray for the Riff Raff: "PIERCED ARROWS" [video]
  • Thursday, January 13, 2022
    Hurray for the Riff Raff Releases “PIERCED ARROWS" From Upcoming Album, 'LIFE ON EARTH'

    Hurray for the Riff Raff (aka Alynda Segarra) releases “PIERCED ARROWS,” a new song on Nonesuch Records today. The track is from Segarra’s Nonesuch debut, LIFE ON EARTH, out February 18; its video, which you can see below, is directed by New Orleans-based artist Lucia Honey. Hurray for the Riff Raff tours North America this spring, beginning March 19 in Atlanta and continuing through April 20 in Nashville, with stops in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York, among others (full schedule below; Anjimile supports). International tour dates will be announced soon. Life on Earth is available to preorder now here; preorders from the Nonesuch Store and the Hurray for the Riff Raff Store include a limited-edition signed print.

    Life on Earth is a departure for the New Orleans-based Segarra (they/she). Its eleven new “nature punk” tracks on the theme of survival are music for a world in flux—songs about thriving, not just surviving, while disaster is happening. For their eighth full-length album, Segarra drew inspiration from The Clash, Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Bad Bunny, and the author of Emergent Strategy, adrienne maree brown. Recorded during the pandemic, Life on Earth was produced by Brad Cook (Waxahatchee, Bon Iver, Kevin Morby).

    The album has received critical praise already, appearing on most anticipated records of 2022 lists by NPR, Pitchfork, the Guardian, Stereogum, the Observer, Vulture, the Wall Street Journal, Paste, the Evening Standard, and the Irish Times, among other. The Guardian says, “What’s most impressive about Life on Earth is the way Segarra metabolises bleak and disturbing subjects into songs that brim with hope, beauty and cheer,” while the Observer says, “Hurray for the Riff Raff promises a manual for Life on Earth, a ‘nature punk’ album for tough times,” and NPR’s Ann Powers says, “If you need some music to take you forward in this strange winter, I think Life on Earth is gonna do it for you.” Mojo, in its four-star review, calls it “a remarkably delicate, tender record full of gentle empathy, of lines that ring with the truth of shared experience. Hurray for The Riff Raff might not be able to save the world, but Life on Earth is a compassionate, humane record at a time when it can only be a gift.”

    Segarra calls “Pierced Arrows,” “A heartbreak song, lost in the realm of memory. Being stuck in the past, and finding the rapidly changing world uncanny and bizarre. Trying to outrun trauma. Finding a meeting place between tough and tender. Memory replaying inside/beside you, triggering fight or flight responses.”

    Lucia Honey says of the video, “We took inspiration from arthouse cinema from the turn of the millennium. Run Lola Run, Requiem for a Dream, My Own Private Idaho. We wanted ‘Pierced Arrows’ to have a gritty narrative feel but that still indulged in a surrealist aesthetic.

    “The song lends itself to a narrative climax. The first time I heard it, I felt like I was in the middle of a brewing storm. I couldn’t escape the reference to Hurricane Ida, which hit Southern Louisiana hard in late August. This blended well with themes from Alynda’s song which is largely about running from a past that always catches up to you. Hence physical running in industrial landscapes. Metal. Trainyards. Escapism. Cold anxiety. Being stuck in a trauma loop.”

    Alynda Segarra was born and raised in the Bronx, which they left at age seventeen, running away from everything and everyone they knew, hopping freight trains or hitchhiking across the country in the company of a band of street urchins. Segarra moved to New Orleans in 2007 and formed two bands: Dead Man’s Street Orchestra and Hurray for the Riff Raff. In 2015, Segarra decamped to Nashville, then to New York, to make 2017’s critically praised The Navigator, an ambitious and fully realized concept album that was her quest to reclaim her Puerto Rican identity. Segarra’s previous records as Hurray for the Riff Raff are Crossing the Rubicon (EP, 2007), It Don’t Mean I Don’t Love You (2008), Young Blood Blues (2010), Hurray for the Riff Raff (2011), Look Out Mama (2012), My Dearest Darkest Neighbor (2013), and Small Town Heroes (2014).

    HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF ON TOUR

    Mar 19 Terminal West Atlanta, GA
    Mar 22 Antone's Austin, TX
    Mar 25 Lodge Room Los Angeles, CA
    Mar 26 Pappy & Harriet's Pioneertown, CA
    Mar 29 Independent San Francisco, CA
    Mar 31 Wonder Ballroom Portland, OR
    Apr 1 Tractor Tavern Seattle, WA
    Apr 2 Biltmore Cabaret Vancouver, BC
    Apr 5 Urban Lounge Salt Lake City, UT
    Apr 6 Bluebird Theater Denver, CO
    Apr 8 Fine Line Minneapolis, MN
    Apr 9 Thalia Hall Chicago, IL
    Apr 10 Skully's Music Diner Columbus, OH
    Apr 11 Horseshoe Tavern Toronto, ON
    Apr 13 Paradise Rock Club Boston, MA
    Apr 15 Elsewhere Brooklyn, NY
    Apr 16 Underground Arts Philadelphia, PA
    Apr 17 Union Stage Washington, DC
    Apr 18 Motorco Music Hall Raleigh, NC
    Apr 20 Basement East Nashville, TN
         
    May 20 Tomavistas Festival Madrid, SPAIN
         
    Journal Articles:Artist NewsVideo

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