MODEL/ACTRIZ
ANNOUNCE SOPHOMORE ALBUM
“PIROUETTE”
OUT MAY 2ND VIA TRUE PANTHER / DIRTY HIT
SHARES LEAD SINGLE & VIDEO
“CINDERELLA”
EUROPE + NORTH AMERICAN TOUR ANNOUNCED, DATES BELOW
Photo by Yulissa Benitez
Brooklyn-based four piece Model/Actriz ferociously meet at the altar of pop icons on their highly anticipated sophomore album Pirouette, out May 2 via True Panther Records (Americas) / Dirty Hit (ROW).
The band’s visceral live shows create a shared space of cathartic carnal ritual when Aaron Shapiro’s pummelling bass, Jack Wetmore’s blistering guitar, and Ruben Radlauer’s relentless drums amalgamate, as Cole Haden (vocals) commands the music’s chaotic center with a poise that channels Grace Jones and Lady Gaga. That energy is manifested at the core of Pirouette with a razor-sharp club-pop edge cutting through their foundation of traditional rock instrumentation. It bridges cabaret with heady electronic sounds while channeling the pantheon of pop icons like Britney Spears and Mariah Carey, whom Haden worshiped like saints growing up, and charts the past and present as they chafe against one another to explore a thorny part of becoming one’s true self. Pirouette’s dance-floor ready soundscape basks in the afterglow of their smoldering, frenetic and highly lauded debut Dogsbody (2023), which earned critical praise from Rolling Stone, Variety, Pitchfork, The Needle Drop, SPIN and more.
The album news is accompanied by Homeric lead single “Cinderella,” whose strutting techno-influenced bravado gives way to crushing vulnerability. The video, directed by Nathan Castiel (Remi Wolf, Surf Curse), who previously directed videos for “Crossing Guard” and “Matador,” is a campy spin on the classic titular story, featuring Haden as Cinderella, Wetmore as Cinderella’s step-mother Lady Tremaine, Radlauer and Shapiro as step-sisters Drizella and Anastasia, with musicians Gallipony and Magdalene guest-starring as Prince Charming and The Fairy Godmother.
Cole says: “Cinderella distills within it many of the objectives that would become the lifeblood of Pirouette. The song switches between moments of tension and fluidity, dissonance and harmony: we aimed to write something with an inherent brightness that differed anything we had made before, and the light that shines through the song was made not through removing darkness, but through upping the contrast. The lyrics were written in response to that canvas, and give voice to an inner dialogue I once had while on a date with a beautiful man. It’s a song about the realization that there was shame and pain I carried long after it had become obsolete, and while it was uncertain if I would ever see this person again, I could remember him always as the mysterious catalyst that released me from it.”
Pirouette was co-produced and mixed by Seth Manchester (The Body, Battles, Lingua Ignota, Mdou Moctar) and mastered by Matt Colton (Aphex Twin, James Blake), their collaborators on Dogsbody. It was recorded at Machines With Magnets in Pawtucket, RI, where they recently debuted the record live in full.
The band has also announced their upcoming North American + Europe tour, playing festival dates in London at Lido Festival, Manchester at Outbreak Festival and Lisbon and Madrid at Kalorama Festival. Tickets for newly announced headline shows go on sale Friday 28 Feb HERE.
Earlier this month, Jack White handpicked Model/Actriz to open his NYC underplay at Irving Plaza. The performance followed a banner two years including plays at Pitchfork Music Festival, Primavera Sound Barcelona, Wide Awake, C2C, Pukkelpop and more, as well as support for Interpol, Gilla Band and The Armed. Together, the band performs an intensity in their work that resembles a rubber ball approaching vibrational frequency bouncing between the points of extremes: joy and violence, humor and nihilism, flirtation and effacement, making them a special conjuring of gray areas without a whiff of indecision.
“Pirouette” Album Artwork
Creative Direction & Photography by Rusty Snyder
Art Direction & Design by Metals
Pirouette Tracklist:
- Vespers
- Cinderella
- Poppy
- Diva
- Headlights
- Acid Rain
- Departures
- Audience
- Ring Road
- Doves
- Baton
Model/Actriz 2025 Tour Dates:
Mar 01 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall Free For All
May 06 – San Francisco, CA – Rickshaw Stop
May 08 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
May 09 – Vancouver, BC – The Pearl
May 10 – Seattle, WA – Madame Lou’s
May 12 – Santa Cruz, CA – Catalyst Atrium
May 13 – Los Angeles, CA – The Roxy
May 16 – Washington, DC – The Atlantis
May 17 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
May 19 – Boston, MA – Deep Cuts
May 20 – Kingston, NY – Tubby’s
May 22 – Brooklyn, NY – Good Room
May 31 – Raleigh, NC – The Ritz*
June 02 – Cleveland, OH – Globe Iron*
June 03 – Toronto, ON – HISTORY*
June 13 – London, UK – Lido Festival
June 14 – Manchester, UK – Outbreak Festival
June 16 – Brussels, BE – Rotonde Botanique
June 17 – Paris, FR – Petit Bain
June 19-21 – Lisbon, PT – Kalorama Festival
June 20-21 – Madrid, ES – Kalorama Festival
*Supporting Panchiko
Select critical praise for Model/Actriz:
“The Brooklyn band are one of the most exciting live acts of the moment, mixing punishing punk, pounding electronica and an unmissable stage presence” – NME
“There’s an explosive intensity to Model/Actriz’s music. The New York noise-rock band make hedonistic clangers that ooze with sex appeal, accelerating at breakneck speed towards feverish transcendence.” – Dazed
“Known for theatrical flair and electric live performances…coaxes a sense of decaying glamour out of grating industrial textures and dance-punk influences.” – NY Times
“Every time they perform, it’s an explosion of outrageous noise, raw physicality, and communal joy — all the thrills that rock bands aren’t supposed to be able to provide anymore” – Rolling Stone, FUTURE OF MUSIC ISSUE
“Exhilarating” – Pitchfork, BEST NEW MUSIC
“Rocking at the intersection of raucous garage punk and rhythmic electro-grunge” – PAPER
“Hell-raising” – The FADER
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