ALEXISONFIRE RELEASE FIRST NEW SONG IN ALMOST 10 YEARS - “FAMILIAR DRUGS”

Seminal rock band ALEXISONFIRE has released “Familiar Drugs,” their first new song in almost ten years.

“Familiar Drugs” was produced by the band, long-time friend Karl Bareham (City and Colour), and mixed by Grammy-award winning Jacquire King (Tom Waits, Kings of Leon, Modest Mouse).

A special vinyl pressing is available for pre-order today starting at 10:00am EST as a single-sided 7” vinyl with a laser-etched b-side. A limited edition glow-in-the-dark variant will be randomly inserted throughout the entire pressing of black vinyl stock. Along with the 7”, AOF will have new “Familiar Drugs” inspired merchandise on their official storefront HERE.

Alexisonfire has announced select headline shows this June kicking off in London, with stops in New York, Los Angeles, and wrapping up in Toronto at Budweiser Stage. Tickets for all show dates go on sale on Friday, February 22 at 10:00am local time. Fans can sign up to the band’s mailing list to receive a password for the pre-sale HERE. The pre-sale will be live Tuesday, February 19 at 10:00am local time. See below for all show dates and visit theonlybandever.com for more details. Alexisonfire has partnered with PLUS1 so that $1 from every ticket sold will be donated to Indspire to build a brighter future for Indigenous students.

$1 from each ticket sold (for all shows) will be donated to Indspire, a Canadian-based Indigenous-led registered charity that invests in the education of Indigenous people for the long term benefit of these individuals, their families and communities. 

TUNE IN to the band’s Facebook page tonight for a special live stream performance from the House of Strombo in Toronto. AOF will perform “Familiar Drugs” for the first time along with selections from their award-winning catalogue. The event will stream live starting at 8PM EST at: https://www.facebook.com/AOFofficial/. 

Says vocalist George Pettit about the new track, “‘Familiar Drugs’ is about recognizing you need to make a change in your life, being presented with the opportunity to make that change, and then choosing to do the same thing you always do. It’s about something very specific to me but it can be taken literally or interpreted in any number of ways. Most people have something in their lives they can’t quit, substances, unhealthy relationships, lethargy, self righteousness, a job they hate. ‘Familiar Drugs’ is about choosing comfort over self betterment.”

Hailing from St. Catharines, Alexisonfire rose up out of the Southern Ontario underground in late 2001, to become one of the most successful indie bands out of Canada. The band’s success also reached far beyond Canada’s borders. AOF released four hugely successful studio albums, Alexisonfire (2002), Watch Out (2004), Crisis (2006), and Old Crows / Young Cardinals (2009). Crisis debuted at #1 on the Top 200 Soundscan chart (Canada), and Old Crows / Young Cardinals debuted at #2, and charted at #9 on the US Billboard Independent Album chart. Watch Out helped earn the band New Group of the Year at the 2004 JUNO Awards. All four albums achieved Platinum certification in Canada.The band also topped charts and graced several notable music magazine covers internationally (Kerrang, Blunt, Big Cheese, Canadian Musician, Exclaim!). AOF’s sold-out 10th Year Anniversary Farewell tour in December 2012 touched down on four continents in 24 days, illustrating how meaningful the band still is to their legion of fans around the world.

ABOUT INDSPIRE:
Indspire is a national Indigenous charity that invests in the education of Indigenous people for the long-term benefit of these individuals, their families and communities, and Canada. Indspire’s vision is to enrich Canada through Indigenous education and by inspiring achievement. In partnership with Indigenous, private and public sector stakeholders, Indspire educates, connects and invests in Indigenous people so they will achieve their highest potential.

ABOUT PLUS1:
PLUS1 is an initiative that channels the collective energy of a concert to catalyze social change. By partnering with performing artists, PLUS1 raises and grants millions of dollars to high impact nonprofits addressing our most serious global challenges around Access, Equity, and Dignity. The work begins with a $1 per ticket add-on that makes fundraising simple and seamless. Beyond the dollar, PLUS1 supports artists as educators and advocates, fuelling their passion, reach, impact. To date, PLUS1 has raised and granted over $7 million, and served as the connective tissue between over 100 artists, millions of their fans, and 100s of leading social justice organizations tackling global injustice.