Following its release last August, McKenzie has toured throughout the US and UK and will now head our way for headline performances.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe first album,\u00a0Songs Without Jokes, I was almost obsessively trying to not be funny. I was trying to do something different. And if I came up with a funny idea, I wouldn\u2019t use it. Having toured that album and having made that album, now I\u2019m far more relaxed about songs being funny, songs being heartfelt, songs being serious,\u201d he told\u00a0Rolling Stone AU\/NZ in a recent interview<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t really mind. And so it just depends if it\u2019s a song I\u2019m into. This record I started writing when we were touring the last one and the songs I road tested\u2026 some of them, they\u2019re not comedy songs, but there\u2019s some humour in the lyrics and it\u2019s a pretty playful album.<\/p>\n \u201cI think this album is much more me having fun in the studio. It\u2019s still about modern life, but it\u2019s a more optimistic, playful look on it. I think, you know, I think I\u2019ve got the 70s sound going on, the sort of retro-y band sound that I love. My influences are coming through and the people I love and the studio style. But the song material is me reflecting on modern life. The last album I was perhaps a little more pessimistic. And this time, I guess I\u2019m a little more hopeful\u2026 a little more optimistic in my outlook.\u201d<\/p>\n Read the full interview here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Presale tickets go on sale from 10am local time on Thursday, January 15th, before general public tickets go on sale from 9am local time on Friday, January 16th.<\/p>\n