Last year, Jane Penny, leader of the Montreal indie band TOPS, released Surfacing, her first solo EP. TOPS keyboardist Marta Cikojevic also records solo music as Marci; her self-titled album came out in 2022. Earlier this year, TOPS signed to Ghostly International and released a single called “ICU2.” Now, TOPS are ready to announce the impending release of Bury The Key, their first new album since 2020’s I Feel Alive.

While making Bury The Key, the members of TOPS joked that the album would be their “evil TOPS” record. In a press release, Jane Penny says, “We’re always kind of seen as a soft band or like naive or friendly in a Canadian way, but we made it a challenge to really channel the world around us.” “ICU2” is on the new album, and so is the slinky new single “Chlorine.” Here’s what Penny says about that song:

At one point, I was caught in a cycle of going out to the bar hoping that I would cross paths with a certain person who was not good for me but who I felt irresistibly drawn to. I grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, where it’s very cold, and I used to go to the pool a lot in the winter. It’s also where I first started going to bars to drink with my friends. I was thinking about alcohol and chlorine both being poison, thinking about all the people that I’ve tried to be close to that have ended up being bad for me, how I still love them all, and I wrote the song “Chlorine.”

Below, check out “Chlorine,” the Bury The Key tracklist, and TOPS’ extensive list of upcoming live shows.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Stars Come After You”
02 “Wheels at Night”
03 “ICU2”
04 “Outstanding In The Rain”
05 “Annihilation”
06 “Falling On My Sword”
07 “Call You Back”
08 “Chlorine”
09 “Mean Streak”
10 “Your Ride”
11 “Standing At The Edge Of Fire”
12 “Paper House”

TOUR DATES:
9/04 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
9/05 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
9/06 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile (early show)
9/08 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
9/09 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
9/11 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada – Outdoor Stage
9/12 – Houston, TX @ Heights Theater
9/14 – El Paso, TX @ Lowbrow Palace
9/15 – Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress
9/17 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom
9/18 – San Diego, CA @ Belly Up
9/19 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
9/20 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether
10/01 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall
10/02 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
10/03 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
10/04 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage
10/06 – Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall
10/07 – Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle Tavern & Music Hall
10/08 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
10/09 – Nashville, TN @ Exit/In
10/11 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Festival
10/14 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
10/16 – Detroit, MI @ El Club
10/17 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
10/18 – Montreal, QC @ Théâtre Beanfield
11/10 – Brighton, UK @ Patterns
11/11 – London, UK @ Heaven
11/13 – Dublin, Ireland @ Workmans Club
11/14 – Glasgow, UK @ Stereo
11/15 – Manchester, UK @ Band on the Wall
11/17 – Leeds, UK @ The Brudenell Social Club
11/18 – Bristol, UK @ Rough Trade
11/20 – Kortrijk, Belgium @ Wilde Westen
11/21 – Paris, France @ Point Ephemere
11/22 – Brussels, Belgium @ Botanique
11/23 – Vlaardingen, Netherlands @ De Kroepoekfabriek
11/24 – Hamburg, Germany @ Nochtspeicher
11/26 – Berlin, Germany @ Neue Zukunf

Bury The Key is out 8/22 on Ghostly International