CEREMONY Release "Dark Summer"
California punk veterans Ceremony have released "Dark Summer," the latest single from their upcoming seventh studio album, Tell Me Your Dream, due out August 7 via Relapse Records.
The song follows the previously released "Death Destruction Mayhem" and continues to showcase the band's evolving sound, blending the urgency of their hardcore roots with the darker textures and atmosphere they've embraced in recent years. Built around brooding guitars and a moody post-punk backdrop, "Dark Summer" explores the uneasy feeling of emotional darkness appearing in moments that should feel bright.
Vocalist Ross Farrar compares that feeling to the piercing feedback created when a guitar is pushed too close to its amplifier. For him, the song captures the unsettling experience of carrying anxiety or dread even in the middle of an otherwise beautiful day—a contradiction that leaves behind both melancholy and strange beauty.
Tell Me Your Dream reunites Ceremony with producer John Reis, whose work with bands including Rocket From the Crypt and Hot Snakes has long made him a respected figure in punk and alternative rock. Reis previously worked with Ceremony on 2015's The L-Shaped Man, but this time around his role expanded well beyond production.
According to guitarist and keyboardist Anthony Anzaldo, the band placed enormous trust in Reis throughout the recording process, allowing him to play a larger creative role while helping shape the album's direction.
That collaborative spirit reflects the band's own history. Ceremony's foundation stretches back to childhood friendships, and after nearly two decades together, the group's identity has become inseparable from the relationships between its members. Rather than simply continuing as a band, they've grown into something that feels more like a lifelong commitment built on shared experience and mutual trust.
Following appearances at Coachella earlier this year, Ceremony will return to the road this fall for an extensive North American headlining tour. The run begins September 9 in Montreal and includes stops in Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and more before wrapping up in November.
Ceremony Fall 2026 Tour Dates
- Sept. 9 — Montréal, QC — Les Foufounes Électriques
- Sept. 10 — Toronto, ON — East End United Basement
- Sept. 11 — Detroit, MI — Russell Industrial Center Lot (supporting Turnstile)
- Sept. 12 — Chicago, IL — Metro
- Sept. 13 — Minneapolis, MN — Fine Line
- Sept. 24 — Portland, OR — Wonder Ballroom
- Sept. 26 — Vancouver, BC — The American
- Oct. 1 — Boston, MA — The Sinclair
- Oct. 2 — New York, NY — Warsaw
- Oct. 3 — Philadelphia, PA — Union Transfer
- Oct. 4 — Washington, DC — Black Cat
- Oct. 16 — Atlanta, GA — The Masquerade (Hell)
- Oct. 17 — Orlando, FL — The Abbey
- Oct. 18 — Miami, FL — Churchill's
- Oct. 22 — Denver, CO — Marquis
- Nov. 5 — San Antonio, TX — Paper Tiger
- Nov. 6 — Austin, TX — Mohawk
- Nov. 7 — Dallas, TX — Trees
- Nov. 13 — San Francisco, CA — The Fillmore
- Nov. 20 — Los Angeles, CA — The Novo
Tell Me Your Dream arrives August 7, marking the next chapter for a band that has never been content to stay in one place, continuing to reshape its sound while remaining firmly connected to the intensity that first defined Ceremony.