EMPIRES: Set to Kick Off 25-City North American Tour 4/28 in Minneapolis in Support of Acclaimed Debut Album, ‘Orphan’

DT:         APRIL 22, 2015

FM:        AARON FETERL/BARI LIEBERMAN, MSO PR

EMPIRES
SET TO KICK OFF 25-CITY NORTH AMERICAN TOUR APRIL 28 IN MINNEAPOLIS
IN SUPPORT OF THEIR CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED DEBUT ALBUM, ‘ORPHAN’

EMPIRES (L to R): Mike Robinson, Tom Conrad, Sean Van Vleet and Max Steger
Photo Credit: Kyle Dean Reinford

“With bandleader Sean Van Vleet’s excursions to some of indie rock’s most inspiring touchstones,
Empires truly shine on Orphan.”
– Chris Payne, BILLBOARD.COM, 9/15/14 

“Empires are a young, powerful band who leave a distinctly positive impression wherever they play.
Their music is some of this year’s very best.”
– Dave DiMartino, ROLLINGSTONE.COM, 6/19/14

Chicago, IL rock band EMPIRES—Sean Van Vleet (vocals), Tom Conrad (guitar), Max Steger (guitar) and Mike Robinson (drums)–is set to kick off their 25-date North American tour next week in Minneapolis in support of their critically acclaimed major label debut album, ORPHAN.

EMPIRES will first support punk rockers Alkaline Trio in Minneapolis (4/28) and Cleveland (5/2) before embarking on a support run with the San Francisco-based indie rock band Geographer that will take them to such cities as Chicago, Columbus, Toronto, Montreal and Boston before making two appearances in the New York City area: headlining Pianos in NYC on May 20 and then supporting Geographer at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn on May 21. The Geographer tour dates then continue in Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston and Dallas, among other cities, before wrapping May 30 in Austin. See below for full list of upcoming tour dates.

EMPIRES climbed to new heights with ORPHAN (released September 23, 2014 on Island Records), their debut LP produced by Grammy Award-winning producer/engineer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Angel Olsen, War on Drugs). ORPHAN is a collection of songs immersed in classic post punk and indie rock ‘n’ roll circa 1989-1991, exploring the sonic adventurers and emotional heft of artists such as Roxy Music, Wire, and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Born out of singer Sean Van Vleet’s fascination with contemporary popcraft, songs like “Please Don’t Tell My Lover” and the night-driving “How Good Does It Feel” see the quartet adopting time-honored romantic idioms, both musical and lyrical, to mask deeper and darker personal truths. Rolling Stone proclaimed the band as, “sharp, creative and bringing a commendable freshness to the sometimes drearily derivative world of contemporary rock, Empires are a remarkably good rock ‘n’ roll band” (Dave DiMartino, 6/19/14). Ryan Bray from Consequence of Sound noted, “their jones for big, powerful pop rock is on full display here” when reviewing ORPHAN and added, “brick by musical brick, Empires are steadily evolving into the pop rock powerhouse that they evidently have the makeup to be. If the band continue to smartly and steadily branch out like they do on Orphan, they could soon be taking to the bigger stages and venues that the record’s songs so eagerly court” (9/21/14). Additionally, Jon Chattman from the Huffington Post described the band as having, “…such a distinct sound I don’t know whether to tell you they sound like The National meets [insert alt rock band here] or simply just say it’s quality alt/indie-rock blended with subtle 1980s tones. Let’s go with the latter.” (5/5/14)

Last year, EMPIRES completed nationwide tours with Margot & The Nuclear So and So’s as well as The Chain Gang of 1974. The band also performed at a number of festivals in 2014 including SXSW, Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, LouFest, Summerfest, Hangout and BottleRock, among others. Already confirmed for this year are appearances at the Big Guava Music Festival in Tampa, the Forecastle Festival in Louisville and the 80/35 Music Festival in Des Moines. EMPIRES also made their national television debut in 2014 when they performed “How Good Does It Feel” on the Late Show with David Letterman in June; click here to check out the performance.

Catch EMPIRES on tour this spring/summer in the following cities: 

Above: Tour poster for Spring Tour 2015 

Above: Album art for ORPHAN

Tracklisting for ORPHAN:
1. Silverfire
2. Orphan
3. Hostage
4. Shadowfaux
5. Honeyblood
6. Lifers
7. How Good Does It Feel
8. Please Don’t Tell My Lover
9. Stay Lonely
10. Glow
11. Journey Kid

Click here to check out the video for “Please Don’t Tell My Lover”
Click here to check out the video for “How Good Does It Feel”

ORPHAN is available at the band’s website, iTunes , Amazon, and Best Buy

For more information on EMPIRES, visit:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | SoundCloud   

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For press inquiries, contact MSO PR:
Aaron Feterl | aaron@msopr.com
Bari Lieberman | blieberman@msopr.com