Snail Mail has announced a new album called ‘Ricochet’, check out the ‘90s-inspired lead single ‘Dead End’ below.
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The new record will mark Lindsey Jordan’s third LP under the alias. It is set for release on March 27 via Matador, visit here to pre-order.
It also marks Jordan’s first new album in five years, and according to a press release “carries a new sense of clarity, control and maturity throughout compared to her earlier releases”. While past songs captured the “uncertainty of young love”, this release will take a “deeper approach – centring on themes of time, mortality, and loss”.
The first taste of the 11-track album is released today (January 21), and is the intoxicating, grunge-inspired ‘Dead End’.
Opening with a swirling, hard-hitting guitar riff, the song pairs a gritty instrumental undertone with shimmering vocals from the singer. “Woke up thinking about you / Tried calling but I couldn’t get through / Guess we got our own shit to do / But these days I don’t recognise you,” she sings, leading to the explosive chorus.
“Hours we’d spend / Parked at the dead end / You’re burned in my heart, old friend / Tell me, can’t you even look me in my eyes?”
As for the album as a whole, Snail Mail wrote it during a period of personal change, including moving from New York City to North Carolina, and reckoning with questions she once avoided, namely what comes after death.
Musically, she channels the more uplifting aspects of ‘90s alt-rock, with subtle nods to Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, Catherine Wheel and Ivy.
It also arrives following Jordan undergoing surgery for vocal polyps and intensive speech therapy ahead of 2021’s ‘Valentine’ tour, and overcoming the obstacle leading to her feeling more “refreshing, trusting, and comfortable” in her voice from then on.
“I’ve never done this before, but I wrote all of the instrumentals and vocal melodies on the piano or guitar, and then I filled in the lyrics all at once over a year,” she said, adding that the shift gave her more time to craft expansive melodies.
Later this year, Snail Mail will make her return to the UK and play a live show at the Electric Ballroom in London on June 26, she has also shared details of a North American tour set to start in Spring. These dates kick off in Milwaukee on April 10 and include stops in Brooklyn, Los Angeles and more over the following weeks.
Tickets go on sale this Friday (January 23) at 10am local time. Visit here to buy tickets, and check out a list of dates below.
Snail Mail 2026 tour dates are:
APRIL
10 — Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall
11 — Chicago, IL @ The Riviera Theatre
12 — Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre
15 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount
16 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore
17 — Boston, MA @ Big Night Live
18 — Baltimore, MD @ Union Collective Parking Lot
20 — Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom
21 — Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
22 — Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
24 — Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall (Downstairs)
25 — Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
26 — Austin, TX @ Stubb’s
28 — Oklahoma City, OK @ The Tower Theatre
30 — Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
MAY
1 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
2 — San Diego, CA @ Observatory North Park
4 — San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
5 — Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
7 — Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
8 — Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre
JUNE
26 — London, UK @ Electric Ballroom
Last year Snail Mail hit the road with Dinosaur Jr. over the summer, although the latter was forced to withdraw from the final three shows due to a health issue with frontman J. Mascis.
Her most recent album, 2021’s ‘Valentine’ scored a glowing five-star review, with El Hunt writing: “Expertly curated, every single song in ‘Valentine’s relatively restrained 10-song tracklist feels like a fully-realised gem.”
“As a songwriter, Jordan continues to cut straight through to the messy, conflicted, hopelessly infatuated guts of life. It’s a rare skill to pull it off so flawlessly in a signature track or two – let alone across the space of two concise records,” it continued.
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