Graveyard Club Release Single “It Hurts,” Announce New Album and Tour
Photo Credit: Zoe Prinds
Graveyard Club’s new single, “It Hurts,” off their upcoming album Goodnight Paradise is the perfect example of the duality that music can express.
“It Hurts” is the kind of song that has the light and the dark battling over it. Synth-heavy with cascading melodies, the track lends itself perfectly to a summer filled with cruising down the freeway, windows down and sun shining. Diving into it more, the pain of heartbreak crawls through in lead vocalist Matthew Schufman’s deep baritone crooning out, “Falling apart, don’t break my heart, I blame it on the endless dark. I fought so hard to find the words, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts.”
Based in the Twin Cities metropolis of Minnesota, Graveyard Club is not your average band. Founding members Schufman and Michael Wojtalewicz didn’t grow up on the same street or meet at a high school party. Instead they met in the teacher’s break room at their teaching jobs in Minneapolis, which led them to them recording together after class in a 19th century mansion.
After the release of their first EP, Sleepwalk, in 2014, Graveyard Club filled out their ranks with Cory James on drums and Amanda Zimmerman on bass and vocals. Finding common ground in uncommon shared interests such as sci-fi author Ray Bradbury’s short stories and Ryan Gosling’s obscure band Dead Man’s Bones has allowed for Graveyard Club to find a unique niche with their brand of haunting goth synth-rock.
As with the band’s previous releases, “It Hurts” continues their signature blend of sparkling 80’s synth pop with the suaveness of 50’s lyricism. The single has a cinematic quality to it, comparable to the iconic usage of Simple Minds’ “Don’t You Forget About Me” from The Breakfast Club and The Doors’ “The End” from Apocalypse Now. “It Hurts” evokes a nostalgia so powerful that it has you yearning from a time that wasn’t even real, for memories that haven’t been experienced.
About the new album, Schufman explains, “This record, more than any other I’ve been a part of in my lifetime, feels like it cost something to make. Paid for with a whole lot of sorrows, with hours of rumination, with hope, and the persistent ache of a person suddenly surmising that it’s all lost, whatever ‘it’ is.”
With the upcoming release of Goodnight Paradise, out June 28th, Graveyard Club will be playing shows across the Midwest and Western United States throughout June and July.
Tour Dates
June 12 - Seattle, WA - Sunset Tavern
June 14 - Portland, OR - Alberta Street Pub
June 15 - San Francisco, CA - Hotel Utah
June 17 - Los Angeles, CA - Hi Hat
June 19 - Salt Lake City, UT - Goldblood Collective
June 21 - Denver, CO - Lost Lake
July 16 - Chicago, IL - Sleeping Village
July 18 - Madison, WI - The Winnebago
July 26 - Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line
