Pitchfork

What's the world waiting for, exactly? An end to the AIDS pandemic? The elimination of government-sponsored torture? Peace in the Middle East? How about a new Jeremy Enigk album?

On his second solo LP, World Waits, the social agitator and former Sunny Day Realtor assures that there are simple solutions to such problems. "People are starving--feed ‘em," he said in a press release, "As an American especially, it's so easy for me to put on blinders and live in TV land. That frustrates me, that laziness to take responsibility."And what better way to take responsibility than to release a solo album? Wait, don't answer that.

World Waits will appear October 17 on his own Lewis Hollow Records (distributed by Reincarnate/Sony), ten years after the release of his debut solo LP, Return of the Frog Queen. Since SDRE's break-up in 2000, Enigk has not, in fact, been lazy or stuck in TV land. (Or feeding the starving.) Rather, he made an album with the Fire Theft, scored a film (The United States of Leland), and been a regular topic of conversation on Internet message boards. (The kids just adore debating Enigk's spiritual awakening. A friend of mine in college was always trying to point out the salvation messages encrypted within "In Circles".)

World Waits contains ten epically-titled tracks, including the title cut, which Enigk describes as his "love letter to the world." Enigk is currently touring North America, making a stop at Lollapalooza on August 4 and at Bumbershoot on September 3, before heading to Europe for a couple late-summer fests.

A love letter to the world, from Jeremy:

01 A New Beginning
02 Been Here Before
03 River to Sea
04 City Tonight
05 Cannons
06 Damien Dreams
07 Wayward Love
08 Dare a Smile
09 World Waits
10 Burn

On a mission:

08-02 Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck
08-03 Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theatre
08-04 Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
08-05 Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
08-07 Toronto, Ontario - El Mocambo
08-09 Boston, MA - Axis
08-10 Washington, DC - Black Cat
08-11 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
08-12 Philadelphia, PA - North Star Bar
08-14 New Haven, CT - Toad's Place
08-15 Lancaster, PA - Chameleon Club
08-17 Utrecht, Holland - De Helling
08-18 Hasselt, Belgium - Pukkelpop Festival
08-20 Newcastle, England - Carling Academy Newcastle
08-21 Liverpool, England - Carling Academy Liverpool
08-22 London, England - Islington Academy
08-25 Pomona, CA - Glass House
08-26 San Diego, CA - Casbah
08-28 Los Angeles, CA - The Troubadour
08-30 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
09-01 Bellingham, WA - The Nightlight
09-02 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards
09-03 Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot Festival
09-09 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom