Kurt Vile has announced his new album, Philadelphia’s been good to me (note the lowercase words just to upset copy editors!) (there’s a special place in hell for artists who use lowercase for album titles – Mark), which comes out on 29th May via Verve Records, and he’s released the lead single/video, Chance to Bleed. Additionally, he’s also shared the UK dates for his 2026 world tour, including the End of the Road festival and a headline show at London’s Troxy on 9th September, supported by the one and only Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse Band. The album can be preordered here and tickets for all dates can be booked here.
Philadelphia isn’t exactly Neil Young’s Malibu, California or Terry Allen’s Lubbock, Texas, but, perhaps, every great American songwriter needs to stake a claim for the town that feels most like home, and with this album, the man who came out of the gate calling himself “Philly’s constant hitmaker” appears to have crafted his love letter to the city he never left, even as his career took him around the world. “This is my ‘bringing it all back home to Philly’ record,” Vile says. “I’m treating it like my last record. I put everything into it. It’s my best vocal record. It’s my best electric guitar record. It’s my most organic record, made in the comfort of my own zone.”
On the single, Vile looks back on his early days in the underground music scene. Featuring guest vocals from old friends—Natalie Hoffman (NOTS, Optic Sink), Ethan Buckler (King Kong, Slint), and Greg Cartwright (Reigning Sound, The Oblivians), who also contributes co-lead guitar (Kurt’s guitar is panned to the left, Greg’s to the right): it’s an ode to “old-time, lo-fi, DIY rock ‘n’ roll nights.” Vile calls it “hillbilly techno,” and appropriately, its music video was filmed at Fishtown institution Kung Fu Necktie, packed out with friends and collaborators, including Hoffman, Buckler, and Cartwright. It even boasts cameos from comedian Jim E Brown and a fellow hometown hero: the one and only Schoolly D, popping up in his signature fur coat.
Commenting on the track and video, Vile says: “Chance to bleed” is some new kinda higher energy rager. Recorded with my band of bros, the Violators in Athens, GA… and then on down the road to Memphis, TN, where we got town legend Greg Cartwright to rip with us (KV lead gtr on the left and Greg lead on the right!) I finished this jam out in L.A. with Rob Schnapf at the mixing board, and by then it was flyin, baby. The video is a hoot: I invited my Memphis friends back out for that, and there’re a ton of other legendary guests, so keep your eyes peeled. (Yo, Schoolly D!)”
The photo on the album’s cover, an image of a ramshackle bar sign taken by the legendary photographer William Eggleston, actually depicts a scene in Memphis. Yet the never-before-seen original photo, which Eggleston’s son Winston sent to Vile a few years ago, is as much a part of his history in the city as his old gig driving a forklift at the Philadelphia Brewing Company or his old haunts in Northern Liberties.
The album was created from late 2023 to early 2026, in what he describes as “an inspired state of flux,” capturing the odd melody to a Zoom recorder or loop machine between stints on the road. Though Vile’s travels led him to sessions in Memphis, Los Angeles, and Athens, he laid down the majority of the album in a basement studio in his Mt. Airy home, surrounded by analogue organs, old tape consoles, records, and books about heroes, some of whom he now counts as collaborators. Built out with Violators bassist Adam Langellotti at the start of the pandemic, the space, dubbed “OKV Central” or “Overnight KV,” has become Vile’s sanctuary, a place he can retreat to after a show in the city and receive a visit from the late-night muse.
Largely self-produced, with assists from Langellotti, keys wiz Matthew Jugenheimer, drummer Kyle Spence, guitarist Jesse Trbovrich, and longtime Violators boardsman Rob Schnapf, the record sees Vile returning to his home-recording roots while also coming into his own as a producer, using time-tested and world-worn tools to fill the album with more warmth than you can fit into the back of a touring band’s van. “I’ve been waiting for that kinda natural element to show up again in my recordings, like the old home recording days,” he says. “I think I finally caught that again, but in a higher fidelity; it’s never overly polished, but it’s still pretty damn shimmery.” He’s especially proud of the sparkly lead guitar melodies he pulls from an old, hollow-body Gretsch Tennessean once owned by longtime friend and “one of my true heroes,” Travis Good of the Sadies.
“Philadelphia’s been good to me” Tracklist:
1. Zoom 97
2. 99 BPM
3. Rock ‘o Stone
4. You don’t know cuz it’s my life
5. Chance to Bleed
6. Philly’s been good to me
7. 99th song
8. Red Room Dub
9. Holiday OKV
10. Every time I look at you
11. Piano for Sarah
12. Avalanches of Snow
Kurt Vile and the Violaters UK/IE Tour Dates 2026:
Sun. Sept. 6 – Dorset, UK @ End of the Road
Mon. Sept. 7 – Bristol, UK @ The Crane %
Tue. Sept. 8 – Brighton, UK @ Chalk %
Wed. Sept. 9 – London, UK @ Troxy %
Fri. Sept. 11 – Manchester, UK @ The Ritz %
Sat. Sept. 12 – Birmingham, UK @ XOYO %
Sun. Sept. 13 – Glasgow, UK @ SWG3 TV Studio %
Mon. Sept. 14 – Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street %
Tue. Sept. 15 – Leeds, UK @ Project %
% w/ Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band
