Cumming described their thought process as: “Tomorrow is not promised, no tour is promised, no popularity is promised, no health or money is promised. Why not make what you want to make on your own terms? Why not make a record that makes you want to dance? Why not make a record that makes you want to scream?“

They’ve had a little help from their friends when it came to the writing, collaborating with artists such as Shamir, Suzy Shinn and Jacob Portrait (who was also on producing/mixing/co-engineering duties). Recorded largely at home with Faber doing some of the engineering, it’s an album that shows the band mostly going it alone. Faber said that “We didn’t have to rely on anyone outside of the band and our producer, Jake Portrait, to get Headful of Sugar made. Self-sufficiency helped us tell the story we wanted to tell. “

And they set out to do just that. Their latest single “Who Put You Up To This?“, which is the opening track on the album, has been described as “a kiss-off to a former lover, maybe, but also a former self“, stating “In another life I was a bitch/ In another life I was your bitch/ Here’s how it turned out“.

new album ‘Headful of Sugar’ out May 6th. listen + watch the video for the first song, Who Put You Up To This? OUT NOW

sign up for early access to tickets, pre-order the album and merch https://t.co/ya0xo6OVal

Album Cover shot + creative directed by Driely S. pic.twitter.com/QYGvRsy0pM

— Sunflower Bean (@Sunflower_Bean) February 8, 2022

In other news, fans can also look forward to a new tour in support of the album, happening over February-June later this year.  Tickets go on sale this Friday from 10 am, and if you want to get in early, you can go by this link. The UK tour dates can be seen below.

Sunflower Bean UK Tour Dates:

30/03/2022 – Junction 2 – Cambridge
31/03 – Brudenell Social Club – Leeds
01/04 – Strange Waves Festival – Manchester
02/04 – Stereo – Glasgow
04/04 – Newcastle University – Newcastle upon Tyne
05/04 – Rescue Rooms – Nottingham
06/04 – Mama Roux’s – Birmingham
07/04 – Electric Ballroom – London
09/04 – Thekla – Bristol
0/04 – The Wedgewood Rooms – Portsmouth
11/04 – Concorde 2 – Brighton

The new song is only the second release the New York-based trio has dropped since their 2019 EP King Of The Dudes and follows last year’s single “Moment In The Sun” and their Manics collaboration with singer Julia Cumming’s, “The Secret He Had Missed”.

“Baby Don’t Cry” discusses the disposable nature of content in the digital age and encourages us to enjoy what we do have in life that “give us meaning”. It’s a message that was inspired by “being stuck at home” during the pandemic, with “the only connection you had to the outside world being a screen,” guitarist Nick Kivlen told NME.

“Instead of being out in the real world living your life, you were just looking at this screen that was constantly trying to manipulate your emotions and make you have this whole range of life just sitting at home and being completely disconnected from actually doing anything,” he continued. “It was hard to grasp onto anything real because even going to the grocery store was this traumatic experience that had to be rushed through and every person you saw was a possible threat.” You can hear the track below.

“Cooking dinner for one / Got The Caretaker on,” Julia Cumming sings in the song’s first verse. “Lyrics make me exhausted / I just need to clear my head”. The band then recalled that this made for a direct shoutout to an artist they spent the last 18 months listening to and who they immersed themselves in “something less demanding of you and very out of the time period that we’re living in”.

Kivlen goes on to say “He’s a British artist who takes old ‘20s and ‘30s parlour music it into these five-hour ambient albums, [Listening to it], you have these nostalgic memories that aren’t real but they’re comforting to hear and it almost has the effect of looking at a campfire.” “Baby Don’t Cry”, he added, is a celebration of such pieces of art “that you can find and feel really personal and special to you, and you can connect with in a way that doesn’t feel cynical or fleeting in the same way that a lot of content can make you feel really empty”.

Whereas 2020’s “Moment In The Sun” as Cumming stated found the band “recognising what is important in one’s life [and] the people you decide to spend it with” in a bleak time, “Baby Don’t Cry” comes from a different place. “‘Moment…’ was this urged forth sunniness and hopefulness, ‘Baby Don’t Cry’ is really part of how we’re feeling now and how we’re looking towards the future with the music that is on the horizon.”

The band are also set to embark on a UK tour after having some much needed time off during the pandemic to find themselves and “get their lives together”

Tickets for Sunflower Bean’s 2022 UK tour are already available for pre-sale and go on sale today (Friday 15). The tour dates can be seen below:

03/30/22 Junction 2 – Cambridge
03/31 Brudenell Social Club – Leeds
04/01 Waves Festival – Manchester
04/02 Stereo – Glasgow
04/04 University  – Newcastle
04/05 Rescue Rooms – Nottingham
04/06 Mama Roux’s – Birmingham
04/07 Electric Ballroom – London
04/09 Thekla – Bristol
04/10 Wedgewood Rooms – Portsmouth
04/11 Concorde 2 – Brighton