SPILL NEWS: SAM ROBERTS BAND CELEBRATES 20 YEARS OF ‘CHEMICAL CITY’ WITH A 2 LP ANNIVERSARY EDITION OUT APRIL 10 | TOUR DATES

SAM ROBERTS BAND CELEBRATES 20 YEARS OF CHEMICAL CITY WITH A 2 LP ANNIVERSARY EDITION OUT APRIL 10 | TOUR DATES

UNIVERSAL MUSIC CANADA

On March 20th, Sam Roberts Band announced the 20th Anniversary reissue of Chemical City, celebrating the landmark 2006 album. The 20th Anniversary Edition is being pressed as a 2 LP on 180-gram black vinyl for the first time and includes the four additional tracks previously only found on the limited-edition Chemical City Redux (2015).

Chemical City (20th Anniversary Edition) will be available April 10 via Universal Music Canada, marking the album’s third pressing since its original release. Whether you’re rediscovering this album or experiencing it for the first time, this is how it was meant to be heard – in its entirety. The record opens with “The Gate,” its haunting organ, driving bassline, and chasing guitar riffs building tension before thunderous drums land beneath Sam’s unmistakable vocal. From the first moments, the album announces itself with undeniable force. It’s a commanding introduction that sets the stage for a record widely celebrated as a triumphant return to form for the band.
Featuring standout singles “The Gate” and “Bridge to Nowhere,” alongside the mesmerizing, dreamlike “Mind Flood,” the album delivers both power and atmosphere. “Bridge To Nowhere” earned the 2007 JUNO Award for Video of the Year, further cementing the band’s resurgence. The songs from this collection continue to resonate as some of the most compelling and enduring work of their career.

Sam Roberts added, “The truth is that there is a fourth side, one with songs and characters that complete the story. These songs, “Major Minor,” “Fall Before You Finish,” “The Cathedral,” and “Step Inside,” round out the album in a way that feels essential.

Chemical City was released 20 years ago, but on the original vinyl pressing, side four was left blank, a chapter missing. We recorded the album with producer Mark Howard in Newrybar, Australia in 2005, at a place called The Old Church, which is exactly what it was: an old church. Three months later, we returned home to Montreal and resumed working on the songs, this time with childhood friend and producer Joseph Donovan.
Armed with a finished album, we knocked on the door of our label head to tell him that our now-overdue sophomore release was a concept record populated by astral voyagers, deadbeat superheroes, apocalyptic love, nefarious gangland henchmen, and a ragtag resistance. Somewhere in the chaos that followed, a few songs were left behind, either unmixed, unfinished, or simply lost.

After playing this record for so many years, it’s difficult not to think of it as set in stone, the way it was meant to be. But the truth is, there has always been a fourth side, with songs and characters that complete the story.”

Tour Dates

April 4, 2026 – Night 1 – Lighthouse Art Centre, Halifax, NS
April 11, 2026 – Night 2 – Massey Hall, Toronto, ON
April 16, 2026 – Night 3 – Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC
April 18, 2026 – Night 4 – Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton, AB
April 24, 2026 – Night 5 – L’Olympia, Montreal, QC

Artist Links

Background Photo Credit: Dave Gillespie