Touché Amoré nod to ‘Harold and Maude’ director Hal Ashby with new song & video

When Touché Amoré announced their sixth album Spiral In A Straight Line alongside its opening track “Nobody’s,” one of the catchiest, punchiest songs the band has ever written. Today they’ve shared a second single, “Hal Ashby,” and it shows off a much different side of the band. At times, it harnesses the fast hardcore energy of the band’s classic Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me, and at others, it shows off some of the band’s non-hardcore influences, like the added warmth from the underlying acoustic guitar.

The song is named after the iconic film director Hal Ashby (Harold and Maude, The Last Detail, Being There), who’s also referenced in the lyrics (“a misguided Hal Ashby catastrophe”) and the cinematic, Sean Stout-directed music video has some clear nods to Hal as well. Vocalist Jeremy Bolm calls the video “half a love letter to Hal and half a dream-like interpretation of the song as a whole. Something that can be misunderstood as this or that – and finding the grace in-between.” Check it out below.

Touché are also gearing up for a tour with the very cool lineup of Soul Glo, Portrayal of Guilt, and Soft Blue Shimmer, and that hits Brooklyn’s Warsaw on Halloween (10/31). They also play The Fest for the first time in a decade this fall. All dates are listed below.

Spiral In A Straight Line drops 10/11 via Touché’s new label home of Rise Records (pre-order). It’s their second consecutive album produced by Ross Robinson and their third to feature guest vocals from Julien Baker. It also features Sebadoh/Dinosaur Jr’s Lou Barlow singing part of Sebadoh’s own “Brand New Love” on a song with a lyrical nod to that very song.

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Touché Amoré — 2024 Tour Dates
9/26 – Louisville, KY @ Louder Than Life 2024
10/9 – Los Angeles, CA @ Regent
10/11 – San Diego, CA @ The Cashbah
10/12 – Fresno, CA @ Strummers
10/13 – Sacramento, CA @ Aftershock
10/15 – Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater
10/16 – Seattle, WA @ Crocodile
10/17 – Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Hall
10/18 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex
10/19 – Englewood, CO @ The Gothic Theatre
10/21 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line
10/22 – Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
10/23 – Detroit, MI @ Tangent
10/25 – Columbia, SC @ New Brookland Tavern
10/26 – Gainesville, FL @ Vivid (The Fest)
10/27 – Gainesville, FL @ Bo Diddley Plaza (The Fest)
10/28 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade (Hell)
10/29 – Durham, NC @ The Fruit
10/31 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
11/1 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat
11/2 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
11/3 – Boston, MA @ Paradise