More about: The War On Drugs

The War On Drugs have offered a taster for their much-anticipated fourth studio album, A Deeper Understanding, with the release of the video for the lead single, ‘Holding On’ – and you can watch it below. A Deeper Understanding is out on August 24.

The video for ‘Holding On’ stars The Wire’s Frankie Faison as well as The War On Drugs’ very own Adam Granduciel and has been directed by filmmaker Brett Haley.

And pretty touching it is, too. Here we have an elderly gentleman going about his daily business as he pops his vitamins, goes down to the diner and shoots some pool before being picked up in a truck by a passing Adam Granduciel. Adam then takes a few Polaroids for the our hero in front of a gazebo and in one of the closing shots of the video, the Polaroid is tucked inside a picture frame that sees him as a young man with a woman who, it is suggested, is no longer around.

The music sounds like what you’d expect from The War On Drugs – driving beats, glorious guitars brought vividly to life with lashings of reverb and delay and Granduciel’s rich singing. Here’s hoping the new album can keep up with this standard. Have a listen:

Produced by Granduciel and recorded in New York and Los Angeles, A Deeper Understanding is a “band record” that features bassist Dave Hartley, keyboardist Robbie Bennett, drummer Charlie Hall and multi-instrumentalists Anthony LaMarca and Jon Natchez.

As previously reported on Gigwise, The War On Drugs return to the UK in the autumn. They play:

NOVEMBER

09 – Glasgow, Barrowlands
10 – Glasgow, Barrowlands
12 - Manchester, O2 Apollo
13 – Manchester, O2 Apollo
14 – London, Alexandra Palace

More about: The War On Drugs