Built to Spill tour takes ‘Enemy’ on the road with fall dates

After a lapse of nearly three years between records, Built to Spill will be back this fall with new music and a tour to match. The Idaho-based indie band has lined up nearly 50 concerts to take them through the end of summer and into late 2009.

The band’s recently announced schedule picks up with an August 20 supporting stint for the Flaming Lips at McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheater in Troutdale, OR. Additional late summer and fall tour legs follow through a November 21 performance at the Knitting Factory in Spokane, WA.

The latter part of Built to Spill’s itinerary is filled with numerous multi-night performances, mostly on the East Coast. Those extended engagements are set for October 6-7 at Lee’s Palace in Toronto, On; October 9-11 at Middle East in Cambridge, MA; October 12-13 at Webster Hall in New York, NY; October 14-15 at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, NY; and November 19-20 at Showbox at The Market in Seattle, WA.

Built to Spill is currently awaiting the release of its seventh studio album, “There Is No Enemy.” The record is due in stores in October, more than three years after the group’s previous release “You In Reverse.”

In a recent interview with Pitchfork Media, frontman Doug Martsch said the gap between albums didn’t necessarily concern him. “We’re not in any hurry to put anything out,” he commented. “There are plenty of Built to Spill records — no one is in a hurry to hear something new.”

Breaks between records are nothing new for Built to Spill. The band had a span of nearly five years between its 2001 release “Ancient Melodies of the Future” and April 2006’s “You In Reverse.”

Despite the lapse between studio albums, Martsch noted that the upcoming release will sound reminiscent of its predecessor. He explained, “On the last record, a lot of the material was built on jamming. But, for this one, I wrote most of the songs and brought them to the band. Still, we’re trying to make it sound like a continuation of what the last record was, as far as sounding like a live band with little sounds coming in and out.”

Built to Spill itinerary:
(Dates are subject to change.)

* with the Flaming Lips