Chastity Belt – Chemtrails
Today, Seattle noise pop legends Chastity Belt share “Chemtrails.” It’s the third single ahead of the band’s upcoming album Live Laugh Love, out March 29, 2024 via Suicide Squeeze Records.
The song was initially conceived as a product of jamming, but the end result flaunts a sharpness that calls to mind a moody side of 2000s alternative rock. “Someone like me can’t let go of anything / Moments move like chemtrails in my mind,” singer Julia Shapiro drawls on the chorus, over a blunt guitar riff and pounding drum groove. Inspired by haunting memories that can’t be let go, the song is accompanied by a fittingly spectral video directed by Ertuğrul Yaka.
See below for Chastity Belt’s upcoming US, EU + UK 2024 tour dates this spring & summer w/ support from Charlotte Cornfield, Peel Dream Magazine and Meagre Martin.
On the track, Julia Shapiro offers: “Chemtrails” started off as a jam when we were rehearsing for an upcoming tour. I started playing that initial lead guitar part without thinking, and the rest came together pretty naturally after that. Gretchen’s drums along with Annie’s bass really drive the song – the drums remind me a bit of Protomartyr (love those boys!), and Lydia’s lead guitar line in the chorus is very rock n roll. The lyrics are about not being able to let go of things and retracing memories in your head. I reached out to Ertuğrul Yaka about animating something to the song because his work is often pretty dark and introspective, and he came up with a video that really fits the vibe.”
On the video, animator Ertuğrul Yaka shares:
“Every person has the hope of finding their other half throughout their lives. I tried to explain the deprivation suffered by a person who cannot find her other half. The smiley mask is the persona that she shows to other people. The moon is a metaphor describing the search for couples to each other. At the end of the song ‘I’m painting us a picture in my head’ based on the lyrics, I made the reunion inspired by ‘The Lovers’ painting by Rene Magritte.”
Live Dates
* = w/ Charlotte Cornfield
# = w/ Peel Dream Magazine
^ = w/ Meagre Martin
April 4 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall #
April 5 – Dallas, TX @ Deep Ellum Arts #
April 6 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk #
April 8 – Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf #
April 9 – Tucson, AZ @ 191 Toole #
April 10 – San Diego, CA @ Quartyard #
April 11 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram
April 13 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent #
April 16 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom #
April 17 – Vancouver, BC @ Fox Theater #
April 18 – Seattle, WA @ Crocodile #
April 19 – Olympia, WA @ Capital Theater #
May 3 – Asheville, NC @ Eulogy *
May 4 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat *
May 5 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church *
May 7 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw *
May 8 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair *
May 9 – Albany, NY @ Lark Hall *
May 10 – Toronto, ON @ The Great Hall *
May 11 – Detroit, MI @ El Club *
May 12 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall *
May 29 – Vienna, AT @ Arena ^
May 30 – Leipzig, DE @ Conne Island ^
May 31 – Berlin, DE @ Frannz ^
June 1 – Neustrelitz, DE @ Immergut Festival
June 3 – Cologne, DE @ Bumann & Sohn ^
June 4 – Luxembourg, LUX @ Rotondes ^
June 5 – Paris, FR @ La Flèche D’Or ^
June 6 – Brussels, BE @ Botanique
June 7 – Hilvarenbeek, NL @ Best Kept Secret Festival
June 8 – Brighton, UK @ The Hope & Ruin ^
June 9 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club ^
June 11 – Glasgow, UK @ Room 2 ^
June 12 – Manchester, UK @ Deaf Institute ^
June 13 – Bristol, UK @ Strange Brew ^
June 14 – London, UK @ Village Underground
#chazzybelt