Dean Wareham has announced a new album. That’s the Price of Loving Me is out March 28 via Carpark. The 10-song LP reunites Wareham with his former Galaxie 500 producer Kramer, marking their first collaboration in 34 years, following the indie band’s final album, 1990’s This Is Our Music. Ahead of his new record, Wareham has shared lead single “You Were the Ones I Had to Betray,” along with a Sylvie Lake–directed music video co-starring Wareham’s wife and bandmate Britta Phillips. Wareham as also announced a string of tour dates taking place in April and May. Find everything below.
That’s the Price of Loving Me is the fourth solo album from Wareham, who also plays in the bands Luna and Dean & Britta. Wareham cut the LP in six days in Los Angeles’ Eagle Rock neighborhood, where Kramer, Phillips, Anthony LaMarca, drummer Roger Brogan, and session cellist Gabe Noel all convened to contribute to the songs.
“Kramer insisted that I play all the guitars on this record,” Wareham said in press materials. “And we worked quickly. Kramer believes that two takes yield more treasure than twenty, and he always seems to have the song mapped out in his head right away.”
Kramer added: “34 years is a long time. But I love Dean, so it was worth the wait. Going back into the studio with him again felt like we’d never been apart. And when the work was done, I felt like it couldn’t have been better. There was a ‘full circle’ air around us that still lingers. I’m grateful for having been invited inside again, and for the emotional opportunities that a truly deep and personal collaboration can offer. It’s incredibly rare, and I’d be surprised if I feel anything even remotely like this again.”
Of lead single “You Were the Ones I Had to Betray,” Wareham elaborated: “I wrote this at the last minute, thinking about how love and friendship seem to actually invite betrayal. I didn’t really anticipate where the song would end up musically; it was transformed when Gabe Noel added the cello arrangement in the studio.”
Wareham’s last studio album, I Have Nothing to Say to the Mayor of L.A., came out in 2021, though he did release a holiday album with Phillips and Sonic Boom in 2024 titled A Peace of Us. Last year also saw the release of Uncollected Noise New York, 88-90, a compilation of unreleased Galaxie 500 music.
