The Murder Capital are gearing up to make their long-awaited debut in Australia and New Zealand and have unleashed “Can’t Pretend To Know”, a track that’s as taut and lean as a live wire, coiled around a riff sharp enough to slice through the mundane. It’s a sprint, fast-paced and unforgiving, drenched in the band’s trademark intensity — all tightly controlled chaos and cathartic release.
On their AU and NZ tour, the Murder Capital is set to deliver a full-on reckoning with a setlist spanning their 2019 debut ‘When I Have Fears,’ the brooding catharsis of ‘Gigi’s Recovery’ (2023), and fresh material, including ‘Can’t Pretend To Know,’ which was recorded in Los Angeles under the meticulous ear of John Congleton (St. Vincent, Angel Olsen, Sharon Van Etten).
The Murder Capital formed in Dublin, a group of five brought together at music college, with James McGovern’s haunting vocals front and center. Their 2018 debut single, “More Or Less,” lit up online, propelling them toward their raw, aching debut album When I Have Fears (2019), now boasting over 15 million Spotify streams. Their follow-up, Gigi’s Recovery (2023), pushed them even further, hitting Number 1 in Ireland and breaking into the UK’s Top 20.
Off the back of that success, The Murder Capital became a festival force, with standout sets at Coachella, Glastonbury, and Reading & Leeds, all while touring the US, UK, and Europe, selling out Dublin’s 3Olympia Theatre. Having shared stages with legends like Pearl Jam and now gearing up to tour with Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, The Murder Capital has cemented their place in the post-punk pantheon, with their dark, introspective sound breaking into the mainstream in a way that feels inevitable.
“‘Can’t Pretend To Know’ is a whip of a tune that we made to feel like a hurricane of colour and breathlessness. A surreal look at childhood innocence and all its replacers, those delicate bridges we burn as we move through the strangeways of our youth. Moulded by everything we come into contact with. Learning lessons from toys. Playing the parts that are asked of us.” James McGovern
THE MURDER CAPITAL AUSTRALIAN & NZ TOUR 2025
Monday 31 March San Fran Wellington NZ
Tuesday 1 April The Tuning Fork Auckland NZ
Thursday 3 April The Corner Hotel Melbourne VIC
Friday 4 April The Brightside Brisbane QLD
Saturday 5 April Crowbar Sydney NSW
Monday 7 April The Rosemount Perth WA
Tickets on sale 9:00AM AEST Wednesday 25 September 2024 here
Stream ‘Can’t Pretend to Know’ HERE.
