Ra Ra Riot have shared their first new music in five years. Their new single, “The Wish,” was co-written and produced by Rostam Batmanglij, mixeed by Andrew Maury, and mastered by Emily Lazar. Hear it below.
“Rostam and I have been longtime collaborators and have gotten to work on all kinds of different projects together over the years,” vocalist Wes Miles says. “It’s always something fun and exciting and new. When we got into his studio recently, we found we’d both been getting into fingerpicking – some folk stuff, like Fairport Convention, Joni Mitchell, Anne Briggs, Judy Sill, that kind of stuff. And so we just went from there. It started with a riff I had, super rough, with a sort of nebulous story, and he helped simplify the fingerpicking pattern and start molding it into more of a specific story and vibe. Rostam added some organ – Hammond B3 – and some mandolin, and Joey, his assistant, who’s studied Latin percussion, really added a lot of movement to it. Over the course of two trips to LA, we wrote, re-wrote and recorded the song almost in real time, and I think it’s something really new for us. To me, the song’s about the power of imagining a different world – not necessarily in a fantastic or escapist way, but in an empowering way. About manifesting these deeply held wants and desires. Having these powerful dream visions and trying to capture that moment before you fall deeply into dreaming. Rostam and I love working on songs that can read as both happy and sad at the same time and using that tension to amplify and understand the depth of these feelings and visions.”
Ra Ra Riot are about to begin an East Coast tour celebrating the 15th anniversary of their debut album, The Rhumb Line, including Brooklyn Steel on May 4 with Low Hum. They also have shows supporting Vampire Weekend lined up over the summer. See all of their upcoming dates below.
RA RA RIOT: 2024 TOUR DATES
May 2, 2024 in Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
May 3, 2024 in Boston, MA @ Royale
May 4, 2024 in Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
July 22, 2024 in Kansas City, MO @ Starlight Theater +
July 23, 2024 in Lincoln, NE @ Pinewood Bowl Theater +
July 25, 2024 in Maryland Heights, MO @ Saint Louis Music Park +
July 26, 2024 in Chicago, IL @ Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island +
July 27, 2024 in Chicago, IL @ Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island +
July 30, 2024 in Minneapolis, MN @ The Armory +
July 31, 2024 in Minneapolis, MN @ The Armory +
August 1, 2024 in Milwaukee, WI @ BMO Pavilion +
+with Vampire Weekend