''Mothership'' is the seventh studio album by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Dance Gavin Dance Dance Gavin Dance is an American rock band from Sacramento, California, formed in 2005. The band currently consists of vocalists Jon Mess and Tilian Pearson, lead guitarist Will Swan, rhythm guitarist Andrew Wells, and drummer Matthew Mingus. ...

, released on October 7, 2016, on Rise Records. The album serves as a follow-up the group's sixth studio album, ''

Instant Gratification Delayed gratification, or deferred gratification, is the resistance to the temptation of an immediate pleasure in the hope of obtaining a valuable and long-lasting reward in the long-term. In other words, delayed gratification describes the pro ...

'' (2015), and is their second consecutive studio release with the same consistent line-up. The album was produced by

Kris Crummett Kris Crummett is an American record producer and owner of the Interlace Audio in Portland, Oregon. Crummett started recording in 2002. He has worked with many notable indie music record labels, including Rise Records, Epitaph Records, Fearless Re ...

. Upon its release, the album sold over 19,000 copies within its first week in retail, debuting at No. 13 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The album was supported by four singles; "Chucky Vs. The Giant Tortoise", "Betrayed by the Game", "Young Robot", and "Inspire the Liars". To promote the album, the band embarked on the Mothership Tour, which consisted of two North American legs and one European leg, and toured on the 2017 Vans Warped Tour. On June 28, 2019, the band released an instrumental version of the album to

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and digital download platforms.

Recording

''Mothership'' was recorded by the band at Interlace Audio Recording Studios in

North Portland, Oregon North Portland is one of the six sextants of Portland, Oregon. North Portland is a diverse mixture of residential, commercial, and industrial areas. It includes the Portland International Raceway, the University of Portland, and massive cargo faci ...

over a two-month period between April and June 2016 with producer

. During the recording sessions for the album, the band sought out and collaborated with other musicians such as Andrew Michael Wells of Eidola, Aric Garcia of Hail the Sun, Martin Bianchini of Secret Band, and former Dance Gavin Dance guitarist Zachary Garren of

Strawberry Girls Strawberry Girls is an American rock band from Salinas, California, formed in 2011. The band is currently composed of guitarist Zac Garren, drummer Ben Rosett, and bassist Ian Jennings. All three members are multi-instrumentalists and record prod ...

Artwork

The album artwork for ''Mothership'' was created by

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

illustrator and artist Mattias Adolfsson, who has previously created the album artwork for six of

's studio albums. The album cover depicts a "mothership" in the upper sector of the photo in the shape of an

infinity symbol The infinity symbol (\infty) is a mathematical symbol representing the concept of infinity. This symbol is also called a lemniscate, after the lemniscate curves of a similar shape studied in algebraic geometry, or "lazy eight", in the terminol ...

whilst citizens praise its arrival on the ground below.

Easter eggs Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian feast of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The oldest tra ...

are also illustrated in the album's artwork, including the

Death Star The Death Star is a fictional space station and Weapon of mass destruction, superweapon featured in the ''Star Wars'' Space opera, space-opera franchise. Constructed by the autocratic Galactic Empire (Star Wars), Galactic Empire, the Death Star ...

-inspired space ship as seen on the band's 2008 self-titled studio album.

Promotion

''Mothership'' was unveiled by the band on July 27, 2016, slated for an October 7, 2016 release date. On August 18, Dance Gavin Dance released the album's lead single, "Chucky vs. The Giant Tortoise", for digital download. A second single, "Betrayed by the Game", was released on September 16. On the same day, the music video for "Betrayed by the Game" premiered on the official Rise Records YouTube channel. An animated music video for the song "Young Robot" premiered on September 27, 2016. On March 3, 2017, the band released the music video for their single "Inspire the Liars". Throughout the week prior to the release of ''Mothership'', the band uploaded previews of songs off of the album daily on their

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

. Three years later, on June 28, 2019, Rise Records released an instrumental version of ''Mothership''.

Tour

The band embarked on the headlining Mothership Tour in the United States and Canada from September 22 to October 27, 2016. The tour included support from

The Contortionist The Contortionist is an American progressive metal band from Indianapolis, Indiana. Formed in 2007, the band consists of guitarists Robby Baca and Cameron Maynard, drummer Joey Baca, vocalist Mike Lessard, bassist Jordan Eberhardt, and keyboard ...

, Hail the Sun, Good Tiger, and

The White Noise The White Noise was an American punk rock band from Dallas, Texas, later based in Los Angeles, California. Formed in 2009 under the name Set the Sun by guitarist and vocalist David Southern and drummer Alex Summers, the band has gone through man ...

. A European headlining tour took place from November 3 to November 26, 2016 with special guest appearances from former members

Jonny Craig Jonathan Monroe Craig (born March 26, 1986) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter, best known as the former lead vocalist of bands Dance Gavin Dance, Emarosa, and Rain City Drive, as well as the co-lead vocalist of the short-lived super ...

and

Kurt Travis Kurt Travis (born January 16, 1987) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter from Sacramento, California. He is currently part of the post-hardcore bands Royal Coda and Push Over and the math rock duo Gold Necklace, and was formerly a ...

in honor of the band's tenth anniversary. Another North American tour took place from February 24 to March 19, 2017 with special guest

CHON CHON is a mnemonic acronym for the four most common elements in living organisms: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. The acronym CHNOPS, which stands for ''c''arbon, ''h''ydrogen, ''n''itrogen, ''o''xygen, ''p''hosphorus, ''s''ulfur, r ...

and support from Eidola and Vasudeva. The band toured the entirety of the 2017 Vans Warped Tour from June 16 to August 6, 2017.

Track listing

Personnel

Dance Gavin Dance *

Tilian Pearson Tilian Pearson (born July 12, 1987), also known mononymously as Tilian, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer born in Clearwater, Florida. Since 2012 he has been the third clean vocalist for the post-hardcore band Dance ...

– clean vocals *

Jon Mess Dance Gavin Dance is an American rock band from Sacramento, California, formed in 2005. The band currently consists of vocalists Jon Mess and Tilian Pearson, lead guitarist Will Swan, rhythm guitarist Andrew Wells, and drummer Matthew Mingus. ...

– unclean vocals * Will Swan – lead guitar, rap vocals on "Chocolate Jackalope" * Tim Feerick – bass guitar * Matthew Mingus – drums, percussion 'Additional musicians * Zachary Garren – guitar on "Chucky vs. The Giant Tortoise", "Inspire the Liars" * Martin Bianchini – guitar on "Petting Zoo Justice", "Chocolate Jackalope", "Man of the Year" * Andrew Wells – guitar on "Deception" * Jessica Esposito – flute on "Young Robot" Production *

– producer * Mattias Adolfsson – album artwork

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2016 albums Dance Gavin Dance albums Rise Records albums Albums produced by Kris Crummett