The Ting Tings Go Coastal

Katie White and Jules De Martino are touring in support of their new album, Super Critical, available right now at fine digital stores all over the Net. The LP arrives in physical form Jan. 13 via Finca/[PIAS].

The foundation for the album came together while White and De Martino were visiting the Mediterranean island of Ibiza.  That’s where they ran into Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor, who became the disc’s co-producer.

“It felt like making a record while partying in your bedroom, which is pretty much exactly how we made the first album,” De Martino said.  “In 9 months we became like family.  It was a massive education for us. His old analogue approach, the studio set-ups he used in the ’80s with Duran were perfect for the sound we were looking for.  That approach isn’t around anymore.  Studio people don’t know how to achieve it.”

The Ting Tings’ new direction became evident with the album’s first single, “Wrong Club,” visualized below.

“It’s about what happened to nightclubs that made them not sexy, how the tempo became so fast that nobody moves anymore, they just jerk, its gesture not rhythm,” White said.  “We wanted to make a song that felt exactly like the opposite of that.  It’s very Ting Tings to do a sad song with uplifting music.  That’s just who we are.”

But the new vibe doesn’t end with “Wrong Club.”  The video for the album’s latest single, “Do It Again,” signifies the group’s need to break with convention.  Maybe that’s why it was the first vid to premiere on cloud-based file-transfer service WeTransfer.

“It’s about the need to do something wrong again,” De Martino said, while White added, “Not being lazy, needing to lighten up, stop the paralysis of criticism, just doing anything that makes you feel good.”

The upcoming January tour is a brief excursion, at this time consisting of only six cities.  Here’s the routing:

Jan. 19 – Toronto, Ontario, Virgin Mobile Mod Club
Jan. 20 – New York, N.Y., Bowery Ballroom
Jan. 21 – Brooklyn, N.Y., Rough Trade
Jan. 23 – San Francisco, Calif., Rickshaw Stop
Jan. 24 – Sacramento, Calif., Harlow’s Night Club
Jan. 26 – West Hollywood, Calif., Troubadour

Presales begin this week but dates very depending on venue.  Tickets for all shows go on sale Nov. 21.  Visit TheTingTings.com for more details.