By Amy Szmik, Contributor
[Photo courtesy of AUDRA]

Arizona post-punk band AUDRA released their fourth and latest LP, titled Dear Tired Friends, digitally on August 23 and on vinyl and CD on October 18.

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The 10-track album began as a four-song EP; when brothers Bart and Bret Helm found a 1993 demo of the track “Wish No Harm,” the duo decided to turn the EP into an album. Bret finished the track by June 2018 and, 26 years after it was originally recorded, “Wish No Harm” became the first single from Dear Tired Friends. 

AUDRA funded the album with the help of an Indiegogo campaign since this was the first time they produced and distributed their own music. The campaign was successful and covered the costs of producing the CD and vinyl editions of the album. AUDRA’s first two albums, Audra and Going to the Theatre, were released through Projekt Records.

Thematically, Dear Tired Friends deals with loss and letting go. It details the last decade and how it impacted every member of the band, as well as moving on from the past. Sonically, AUDRA stuck by their sound and influences on this album. 

“Our music is informed by all of the bands that we grew up with – the stark landscapes of post-punk mixed with the tribal grandeur of early Jane’s Addiction and the poetic eclecticism of Lou Reed’s Velvet Underground,” Bret Helm said. 

AUDRA was formed in 1991 by brothers Bart and Bret Helm along with drummer Jason Dewolfe Barton, and Dear Tired Friends is the first release in 10 years for the band. This album follows their 2009 album Everything Changes.

Dear Tired Friends is available on all streaming platforms. It is also available on limited edition CD or vinyl with 300 copies of each. Copies can be found here. 

Listen to Dear Tired Friends below: