Anti-Flag have announced a new album, Lies They Tell Our Children, out January 6th via Spinefarm. The punk vets also shared the video for lead single “Laugh. Cry. Smile. Die.” featuring Silverstein’s Shane Told.
Lyrically, the new song tackles the issue of climate change — “Can anybody hear me, does anybody care?” — words set against the band’s familiar melodic punk sound.
Anti-Flag even posted the full lyrics and an essay that inspired the song, providing context to help drive home its message. The burning globe in the final scene in the video (directed by INDECLINE Activist Art Collective) sums it up.
In addition to Shane Told, the guest-heavy album also features notable appearances by Rise Against’s Tim McIlrath, Killswitch Engage’s Jesse Leach, Bad Religion’s Brian Baker, and more.
“Look, this is our 13th album,” Anti-Flag stated in a press release. “There’s no other way to put it; Lies They Tell Our Children is the best fucking version of Anti-Flag we have ever been. We haven’t been afforded the privilege and ability to spend every day together writing and focusing on every detail of an album in well over a decade and I think you can feel that collaboration and collectiveness in these songs more than any other record of ours. That collaboration was only extrapolated on with the inclusion of the eight guests who are featured on the album, spanning genres, years of friendship, and a vast array of perspectives.”
The band continued: “The album itself is the first conceptual album the band has ever done, spawned out of a compulsive need to not just comment on the dystopian corporate wasteland we all face but to trace it back to the origin of this fate; the political policies, laws, cultural shifts, and lineage of injustice that have led us to the world we live in today.”
Anti-Flag will also be embarking on a fall 2022 North American headlining tour. It kicks off on September 16th in Burlington, Vermont, and runs through November 6th with an appearance at Punk in the Park in Silverado, California. The run includes multiple festival appearances including numerous dates for the band’s recurring ANTIfest. Three additional dates follow in December. Buy tickets via Ticketmaster.
Lies They Tell Our Children is available for pre-order via Spinefarm. Below you can stream the video for “Laugh. Cry. Smile. Die.” and see the band’s full list of tour dates, the album art, and tracklist.
Lies They Tell Our Children Artwork:
Lies They Tell Our Children Tracklist:
01. SOLD EVERYTHING
02. MODERN META MEDICINE (feat. Jesse Leach of Killswitch Engage)
03. LAUGH. CRY. SMILE. DIE. (feat. Shane Told of Silverstein)
04. THE FIGHT OF OUR LIVES (feat. Tim McIlrath of Rise Against and Brian Baker of Bad Religion)
05. IMPERIALISM (feat. Ashrita Kumar of Pinkshift)
06. VICTORY OR DEATH (WE GAVE ‘EM HELL) (feat. Campino of Die Toten Hosen)
07. THE HAZARDOUS
08. SHALLOW GRAVES (feat. Tré Burt)
09. WORK & STRUGGLE
10. NVREVR (feat. Stacey Dee of Bad Cop/Bad Cop)
11. ONLY IN MY HEAD
Anti-Flag Fall 2022 North American Tour Dates:
09/16 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground
09/17 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall @ ANTIfest (Early Show) *
09/17 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall @ ANTIfest (Late Show) *
09/18 – Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom
09/23 – Birmingham, AL @ Furnace Fest @ Sloss Furnaces *
09/24 – Charleston, SC @ Music Farm (With Doll Skin, Teens in Trouble)
09/25 – Louisville, KY@ Louder Than Life Festival *
09/30 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat
10/01 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian Theatre @ ANTIfest *
10/06 – Boise, ID @ The Shredder
10/07 – Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
10/08 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom @ ANTIfest *
10/13 – Richmond, VA @ Canal Club
10/14 – Virginia Beach, VA @ Elevation 27
10/15 – Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom @ ANTIfest *
10/29 – Gainesville, FL @ FEST 20 @ Bo Diddly Plaza *
10/30 – Gainesville, FL @ FEST 20 @ Bo Diddly Plaza *
11/04 – Chicago, IL @ The Metro @ ANTIfest *
11/05 – Detroit, MI @ The Sanctuary
11/06 – Silverado, CA @ Punk In The Park *
12/04 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
12/09 – Buffalo, NY @ Rec Room
12/10 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall @ ANTIfest *
* = festival date
